Context Of Project Management Research Articles

Application of systems thinking to the identification, avoidance and prevention of risk

Undertaking a project is a high risk activity. The ability to identify potential risks and to take steps to avoid them are two of the most important aspects of good project management. Nonsystemic techniques for risk evaluation and management are already widely applied and well understood, but the use of systems approaches in this context is less widespread. It can be argued, however, that by using systems approaches it is possible to identify potential risks which would not otherwise be predicted. In addition, the application of systems thinking at the end of a project can enable lessons from outcomes to be used to improve performance on future projects. Examples of the use of systems methods and techniques in the project management context are given in the paper, together with illustrations of how such analyses can be used in the identification of risks.

Fuzzy High Level Petri Net for Modelling Information Uncertainty in Project Management

The problematic dealt with in this paper concerns information uncertainty modelling and real time decision-making in a project management context. Some basic definitions on activity, cognitive resource and activity knowledge are introduced. A formal tool called a fuzzy high level Petri net is developed to approach such a problem. The fuzzy high level Petri net combines high level Petri net used to model activity, agent treatment processing and activity knowledge, and fuzzy set logic which is used to represent information uncertainty and to take appropriate decisions. An application example concerning designing activity is treated to illustrate the usefulness of such a modelling tool.

Software Development Project Management: Process and Support.

Part 1 The process of software development project management: the context of project management establishing a project the project management process project management goals. Part 2 Modelling the project and the management process: modelling approach - language and concepts modelling the activities in the management process modelling the project making inferences and decisions about the project. Part 3 Supporting the process of project management: division of labour between manager and computer-based support system designing project management support environments providing integrated support through process guidance supporting project risk management. Part 4 Implications and conclusions.

Knowledge-based approaches for scheduling problems: a survey

Recent developments in artificial intelligence (AI) have led to the use of knowledge-based techniques for solving scheduling problems. The authors survey several existing intelligent planning and scheduling systems with the aim of providing a guide to the main AI techniques used. In view of the prevailing difference is usage of the terms planning and scheduling between AI and operations research (OR), a taxonomy of planning and scheduling problems is presented. The modeling of real world problems from closed deterministic worlds to complex real worlds is illustrated with a project scheduling example. Some of the more successful planning and scheduling systems are surveyed, and their features are highlighted. The AI approaches are consolidated into knowledge representation and problem solving in the project management context. >