Management Of Such Projects Research Articles

The optimal location of the distribution point of the belt conveyor system in continuous surface mining operations

Continuous surface mining projects are dynamic and quite complex. They are characterized by geological and spatial variability and several stochastic parameters that affect initial planning and final design. In strategic mine planning and operations management of such projects, the location of the distribution point of the belt conveyor system (BCDP) is of high importance as it directly influences mine development and the production schedule. In addition, the spatial location of the BCDP directly affects project cash flow including investment and operating costs and, as a result, the economic viability of the mining project. Therefore, the problem of the optimal location of BCDP could be defined as an economic optimization problem focusing on the material transportation cost. In this paper a model for the optimal location of BCDP in continuous surface mines is formulated based on the minimization of the transportation cost within the lifetime of the mine. A computer model was developed based on a methodological approach and was verified utilizing an actual lignite deposit which was simplified in terms of geometry and geology. Simulation results compare well with actual data available for the specific lignite mine.

Managing the Interdisciplinary Approach to Engineering Design

Rapid advancement in technology leading to re-structuring of undergraduate engineering curricula, necessitate interdisciplinary capstone projects as part of an engineering teaching and learning programme. Proper management of such projects requires collaboration from both students and faculty from the involved disciplines and a willingness by students to learn from, and about, engineering disciplines not theirs. It should also be the case that interdisciplinary projects will enhance and expand students' problem solving, creative thinking skills and project management skills, and attune them to working with other disciplines in their future professional careers. The case study here concerns the development of a prototype lithium-ion battery pack capable of thermal management. Collaboration is between mechanical, chemical and electrical engineering students and faculty and mathematics and computer science faculty. The paper presents suggestions and reflections on how the foregoing issues are addressed.

Managing the ‘Unknowable’ in Complex Innovation Projects

This paper explores how managers actually manage complex innovation projects – projects that unfold in an organizational ecology, where problem parameters and cause-effect relationships are often unknown. We identify the management of such projects as a social practice characterized by ‘best guesswork’. Through an empirical study of early drug development, we detail four practices that entailed best guesswork; resourcing, orchestrating, approvals seeking and designing science. We explore how these practices are woven together and how this influences the choices made by managers in their pragmatic attempts to manage the unknowable. The analysis contributes to theory on the organization and management of complex innovation by exposing what managers actually do and how this is shaped by the organizational ecology. We reveal the pivotal role that symbolic power – in particular that embodied in the drug development pipeline - plays in sense making in this highly uncertain context and how it drives decision-making, not always in ways that are productive for longer-term development.

Trends in Contracting Construction Projects: A Case Study

Construction projects are usually very dynamic in nature, involving complex processes and confront risks of uncertainty and constant change. Effective management of such projects therefore requires flexible relationship between the client and contractor. Flexible relationship requires mutual trust between the client and contractor. The contracts that are inflexible suffer problems such as project delays, cost overruns and poor quality. This study is conducted with an intention to investigate the role of trust in the contracting of construction projects. The study is carried out in one of the most underdeveloped provinces of Pakistan i.e. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The construction industry in here is much underdeveloped and need to go through major transformation. This paper aims to analyze the current status of the client contractor relationship in the context of trust with in the construction industry and to find out the factors that facilitate trust and factors that impede trust during the contract. For this purpose, a total of thirty contractors were randomly selected and interviewed from the construction industry of which fifteen were from the private sector and fifteen were chosen from the government sector. The interviews results show that trust plays a significant role in the client contractor relationship. Timely funding to the contractor, timely completion of project, use of skilled labor and due time given by the contractor to the project are the factors that facilitate/ impede the development of mutual trust during the project contracting. Further the data reveals that the private contractors consider trust as a predecessor for contracting whereas on the government side contract is a predecessor for trust.

Herbert Ipser on his 65th Birthday

Herbert Ipser was born on September 22, 1947, in Vienna. After graduation from High School in 1966 he decided to study Chemistry at the University of Vienna. He started his thesis on the phase relationships and thermodynamics of the iron–tellurium alloy system under the guidance of K.L. Komarek and, in 1974, he received his PhD from the University of Vienna. In the same year, he was awarded a Fulbright grant which enabled him to spend the next two years as a post doctorate research fellow at the Department of Materials at the University of Wisconsin in Milwaukee, USA, in the group of Austin Chang. During his leave from Vienna, he worked on a book entitled ‘‘Phase Diagrams and Thermodynamic Properties of Ternary Copper–Metal Systems’’ which, since then, has become a valuable resource for materials scientists. After his two-year stay in Milwaukee, Herbert Ipser returned to his home University in Vienna to resume his position as University Assistant in the Institute of Inorganic Chemistry. There he performed research in different fields of chemistry focussed on phase diagrams and on the thermodynamics of binary and multicomponent systems with emphasis on the close correlation with the underlying defect chemistry. In 1986 he successfully presented his habilitation treatise ‘‘Thermodynamics of NiAs-Phases’’. As Dozent for Inorganic Chemistry he steadily widened the range of his research activities into the field of materials science. During this period, a large number of scientific publications of a remarkable experimental standard appeared. Because of the widely acknowledged reliability of his experimental skills many of his findings found their way into common reference books. Finally, Herbert Ipser was designated Full Professor for Inorganic Chemistry at the University of Vienna in 1998. In 2002 Herbert Ipser initiated the European project COST 531 on ‘‘Lead-Free Solder Materials’’. Under his accurate and strict guidance the project developed into one of the most successful actions, with the active participation of institutions from 21 different countries. As the Austrian representative of the succeeding project MP 0602 on ‘‘High Temperature Soft Solders’’ started in 2007, he was one of the most active supporters of the program. Besides the initiation and the management of such projects, Herbert Ipser, with the help of his group, organized several scientific conferences in Vienna. Conferences on High Temperature Materials Chemistry (HTMC 94 and 06) and the Thermodynamics of Alloys (TOFA 88 and 04) held in Vienna were extremely successful in bringing people together working in the same fields. It was always his particular concern to keep the conference fee as low as possible and to support scientists who had problems obtaining travel grants to attend the conferences. In the years which followed, on H. Flandorfer A. Mikula K. W. Richter (&) P. Terzieff Department of Inorganic Chemistry/Materials Chemistry, University of Vienna, Wahringer Strasse 42, 1090 Vienna, Austria e-mail: klaus.richter@univie.ac.at

Book Reviews

Book Reviews

Procuring complex performance in construction: London Heathrow Terminal 5 and a Private Finance Initiative hospital

This paper takes as its starting point the fact that complex projects, interpreted as multiple dependent interactions between many stakeholders over time, challenge traditional procurement practices based on the serial purchase of discrete components. The paper examines how the procurement management of such projects – procuring complex performance – can be conducted. The paper utilises two contrasting case study examples of high-profile UK construction project procurement. The findings suggest that the choice of mechanisms or interfaces for the governance of upstream supply relationships critically relates to subsequent performance. The theoretical contribution is a fusion of procurement literature with the influential CoPS literature.

Managing Complex Technology Projects

OVERVIEW:A survey of United Kingdom-based industrial companies has identified the development of systems architectures and the use of a robust approach to integrated systems design as important contributors to the successful delivery of today's complex technology and engineering projects. A new conceptual framework, called the four-frames systems view, has been developed as a tool for the management of such projects. This innovative framework brings together different systems-related methodologies and tools in order to reduce risk in project design, implementation and management. The framework is based on a view that different systems methodologies are needed in order to accommodate different levels of complexity. The development of a UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) system for the civil sector is an initial application of the framework.

Community Participation in Management of Climate Change

We develop a policy model which unlike the Clean development Mechanism (CDM) allows the economic agents in developing countries to generate and sell certified emission reductions (CERs) through environmentally progressive investment. It is shown that such a system encourages investment in clean projects much more the CDM. Management of such projects might pose a problem if they provide a public good as members of the public might try to appropriate private gain at the expense of the project. In such cases this paper recommends stimulation of cooperation and mutual monitoring among members of the community through provision of shares in pecuniary gains from emission reductions.

La recherche en partenariat : entre fiction et friction

Partnership research: from fiction to friction Our paper deals with the issues and practices at stake in the interdisciplinary partnership research field. Taking as a starting point the observation of three on-going research projects confronting agriculture with environmental or sanitary issues, the authors analyse the effects produced, in terms of scientific results, by the relationships established among researchers and development partners. The hypothesis is that the partnership is based on a two-sided reality: fiction, on the one hand, goes with the assumption that while researchers and partners do consider each other as allies, they consistently avoid confrontation in order to let things run their course. Friction, on the other hand, may arise with disagreement and thus alter the course of events. As revealed by the results of the study, this two-sided reality is held in tension within each project. Their comparison brings out three key points required in the management of such projects: the degree of solidarity between the groups concerned, the kingpin role of mediators, and the manner in which the research is conducted to meet changes in the partnership.

Some Lessons from Using PFI for School Building Projects

This article describes some lessons gained from observing the developments of PFI projects for provision of school buildings. The research, which was primarily based on participant observation methodology, aims to identify key issues relevant to the effective management of such projects. It also attempts to investigate ways in which the PFI process may be changing in this area. Issues covered in the research include motivation, staffing, ownership of the asset, innovation, local democracy and various financial matters. It is observed that some changes in practice in employing the PFI in this area have tended to move it back in the direction of conventional procurement.

Managing interdisciplinary health research–theoretical and practical aspects

Interdisciplinary health research can offer valuable evidence for health care managers. However, there are specific challenges regarding the management of such projects. Based on 7 years of experience from a project in western Kenya, the authors point to the need for a sufficient time horizon, a high level of communication, equity between the disciplines and the identification of appropriate evaluation criteria as issues to be considered. The theoretical framework of Rosenfield was modified to comply with the complexities of field management.

Careful Considerations

Libraries attempting to undertake large-scale start-up digitization projects with grant funding face a number of technical and planning issues from the outset. The Temple University Libraries, having recently completed the first year of such a project, gained valuable insights and experience regarding the implementation and management of such projects. Among the key issues identified in this article are defining the scope and limitations of a project, developing production standards for image format and resolution, constructing file-naming conventions, creating and selecting when to use visible watermarks, and deciding the type and amount of specialized equipment to purchase. Issues concerning environment and staffing are also presented, especially strategies for developing reliable and productive workers out of part-time student staff. The issue of quality control is also a major concern that contains many individual aspects, such as standardized documentation, process tracking and statistics, and the need for a project management layer to oversee day-to-day operations. This article suggests that project planners should also consider presentations and open meetings as a way to present their project to faculty and other interested parties. In addition, planners are encouraged to design strategies for measuring “outcomes” as a project evaluation method to be included in reports to the granting institution.

Different alliance relationships for project design and execution

The IMEC research programme (International Programme on the Management of Construction projects) performed an extensive benchmarking study of some 60 large engineering projects around the world during the period from 1995 to 1999. The purpose of the study was to identify best practice within different areas of management of such projects. While much of the focus of the study was on the front-end phase of the projects, some aspects of project design and execution were also addressed. This paper explores the findings of the IMEC study in this respect, with an emphasis on different models for alliance relationships in the design and execution phases. A model consisting of four different configurations of the dynamics of project development and execution has been identified. Two of these are based on a traditional arms’ length relationship in the design and execution phases. These traditional relationships have been explored in numerous existing publications and are, therefore, not dealt with specifically in this paper. The two configurations displaying a relational approach in the design and execution phases, termed “partners in design and execution” and “relational development and execution”, are described in detail. Perhaps the most important finding from the study is that there is no one “best practice” or “best configuration” for managing projects—the best-suited approach is highly dependent on the project in question and its characteristics.

Portfolio management of R&D projects: implications for innovation management

Globalization of markets and new business practices are prompting high-tech firms to reconsider their competitive strategy. The increasing complexity of technologies in addition to shorter product life cycles are also forcing firms to rely on R&D as a source of strategy. More importantly, firms are inclined to evaluate their technologies from a portfolio's perspective in which a set or a sub-set of R&D projects is evaluated together, in relation to each other. Portfolio techniques can help strategic managers in evaluating whether a portfolio of products is adequate from the perspective of long-term corporate growth and profitability. Obviously, when R&D projects are evaluated relative to one another, technical capability management of such projects must be carried out concurrently. In this paper, R&D Project Portfolio Matrix is used as a tool for analyzing a portfolio of R&D projects by linking competitive advantages of a firm to benefits these projects may provide to customers. Examples of batteries for electric vehicles (EV) and hybrid electric vehicles (HEV) are provided to illustrate how such a matrix is used, and some of the implications for innovation management of such projects.

Emergency and urgent public project management

Emergency and urgent engineering work is becoming increasingly necessary to recover from or to avoid and control natural and man-made disasters, as shown by recent events in Europe, the USA and developing countries. This paper considers the general question of what is meant when engineering work is defined as an ‘emergency’ or ‘urgent’ and what may be the special implications for the planning and management of such projects.

EMERGENCY AND URGENT PUBLIC PROJECT MANAGEMENT

Emergency and urgent engineering work is becoming increasingly necessary to recover from or to avoid and control natural and man-made disasters, as shown by recent events in Europe, the USA and developing countries. This paper considers the general question of what is meant when engineering work is defined as an ‘emergency’ or ‘urgent’ and what may be the special implications for the planning and management of such projects.

Managing large-scale technology and inter-organizational relations: The case of the Channel Tunnel

This paper provides an analysis of the difficulties affecting the development of the Channel Tunnel fixed link. The study draws upon relevant concepts and concerns located in the disciplines of technology policy, decision theory and project management. It evaluates the inflexibility (and non-incrementality) of the Channel Tunnel project in terms of capital intensity, unit size, dependence upon specialized infrastructure and lead time. Hitherto, research has provided support for the hypothesis that technological projects characterized by the aforementioned factors will be unusually painful to develop, with adverse implications for their performance in operation. Studies of this type have analysed, amongst other subjects, the development of nuclear power and first generation North Sea oil fields: cases which contravene the prescriptions of incrementalism. Another aspect of the paper investigates the claim, also supported by previous research, that inflexible technology projects are promoted by centralized decision-making processes to the exclusion of legitimate stakeholders. A more flexible, incremental approach, on the other hand, would emphasize the mutual adjustment and coordination of various stakeholders. The theme of the paper referred to here relates to the implications of centralized decision making early in the life of large-scale projects for subsequent inter-organizational conflict and the lack of the partnering or mutual approach that is widely accepted as being a key factor in the effective management of such projects. The research benefits from interviews with key participants in the Channel Tunnel project as well as from a wealth of secondary data. Conclusions drawn refer to the whether the findings of the research support or refute the incremental thesis and whether more flexible alternative options were available to decision makers.

USING PROJECT FINANCE TO FUND INFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENTS

For much of the past century, there has been an increased tendency for large infrastructure projects to be funded and operated by governments. Since the early 1980s, however, private‐sector financing and management of such projects have experienced a dramatic revival. In some cases, this revival has taken the form of the “privatization” of an entire industry. But another, increasingly common, form has been the use of project finance to fund instrastructure investments. Besides being widely used in infrastructure investments like telecommunications and power generation in developing countries, the use of project finance has recently been extended by the U.K.'s Private Finance Initiative to fund public enterprises as diverse as the construction and operation of prisons, hospitals, subway cars, and the National Insurance computer system.In a project financing, the project is managed by a separate company that is owned by a project sponsor (or sponsors) who usually takes an active role in the management of the project. The project company enters into a complex series of contracts with multiple parties, including the host government, the project's customers and suppliers, and the banks that typically provide most of the debt financing.This paper argues that the equity investment by the project's operators works together with high debt ratios and the web of contractual arrangements to reduce “agency” problems in the management of large projects. It also shows how the contracts shift the various project risks to those parties best able to appraise and control them. Finally, it discusses why most project financing takes the form of limited recourse bank loans to the project company rather than, say, public bonds with full recourse to the sponsors.

Management of joint international projects

The establishment of joint international projects between socialist and Western countries is discussed, and the particular problems that may be encountered in the management of such projects are considered. The different levels of cooperation that may exist are explained and the potential benefits or problems that may be encountered by either party are outlined. It is warned that although East-West cooperation is expanding in all spheres and has now entered engineering as well, the asymmetrical division of labour could cause problems for the socialist partner.