Project Management Guidelines Research Articles

Guideline for Chinese-Foreign Cooperation Project Management in Higher Education in China

The objectives of this research were 1) to study the current situation of Chinese-foreign cooperation project management in higher education in China, 2) to develop the guidelines for Chinese-foreign cooperation project management in higher education in China, and 3) to evaluate the adaptability and feasibility of the guidelines for Chinese-foreign cooperation project management in higher education in China. The sample were 226 lecturers and administrators in higher education in China. They were selected by systematic random sampling and sample random sampling. The interview group was the 1 administrator from each university, totaling 10 people. The experts for evaluated the adaptability and feasibility of the guidelines for Chinese-foreign cooperation project management consisted of high-level administrators from each university, totaling 9 people. Research instruments include: 1) questionnaire, 2) structured interview, and 3) evaluation form. data analysis by using percentage, mean, standard deviation and content analysis.

Risk Management of the Pandemic COVID-19’s Impact on Abandoned Housing Projects in Malaysia: A Literature Review

The possibility is the uncertainty of the probability of the occurrence of an activity or event that can have a positive or negative effect is a risk. Risks to construction projects can result in losses in terms of cost and time for the construction projects involved. The impact of this risk involves the performance and loss of an organization such as housing developers, contractors or losses to certain individuals such as home buyers. The COVID-19 pandemic that has hit around the world has also had a negative impact on construction projects in Malaysia. The effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic have indirectly caused housing construction projects to be abandoned and also not to be completed within the stipulated time as in the contract. This results in the buyers not being able to occupy their homes according to the time period that has been signed in the sale and purchase agreement with the developer. This research aims to look at the risks in the management of abandoned housing projects in Malaysia and the existing risk management guidelines during the COVID-19 pandemic era in Malaysia. The scope of this study is based on a literature review, current news of the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as a document-based review of project management guidelines and project risk management guidelines that have been issued by government departments. This study identifies two main types of risks in the management of housing construction projects, namely from the internal and external aspects. Internal risk involves five matters relating to clients, consultants, main contractors, subcontractors and distributors of building materials. Meanwhile, risks from external aspects involve the physical, economic, political, legal and site context. Risk management strategies are used for housing construction projects for risk management to prevent the occurrence of abandoned housing projects such as retain, reduce, relocate and avoid. A review of the literature found that risk management is important for determining, evaluating and prioritizing risks by monitoring, controlling, and using proper resource management in the current economic situation in order to reduce the likelihood of adverse events and maximize project achievement. In addition, this study concludes that risk management is necessary in addressing the problem of abandoned projects during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Managing R&D and Innovation Projects: An Integrated Conceptual Model for Technology Transfer

Projects start with an idea, which is deployed into a set of actions to deliver expected or foreseen outcomes, and they should be carried out in a cohesive and unified context. In this paper, contributions are devised to integrate project management and technology transfer practices to drive the transformation of knowledge into innovation within the scope of research and development projects at universities and research laboratories or centers. These contributions are presented in the form of a conceptual model that includes three interrelated groups. The first group is focused on project ideas’ definition and selection, the second group on project management, and the third group on knowledge and technology transfer, these groups are supported by improvement, innovation and project management guidelines and standards. To obtain insights to define the model, quantitative and qualitative methods have been used and the data was processed using content analysis and descriptive and inferential techniques meant to ensure the complementarity of the data to obtain a holistic understanding of the practices under analysis. The approach was exploratory and descriptive, but also analytical in the sense that it states the issues at stake to support project management and technology transfer.

Approach to a Project Framework in the Environment of Sustainability and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR): Case Study of a Training Proposal to a Group of Students in a Higher Education Institution

The purpose of this research was to plan an approach to a project framework that integrated a model for sustainability and CSR, with the process groups of the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK®) standard, in its application to the training of a group of students in Project Design, Management, and Evaluation. The integration was justified by the scarce explicit references to sustainability and CSR found in traditional project management guidelines, norms, and standards. The new framework was used to structure a Sustainability Management Plan, which made it possible to incorporate sustainability criteria throughout the life cycle of the training project. The training proposal in Project Design, Management, and Evaluation was chosen, among several alternatives, by a multi-criteria selection process (fuzzy AHP) in the context of project scope management. The results reveal a great heterogeneity among the models and the lack of a base of key indicators in sustainability and CSR measurement tools as well as of explicit references to sustainability in project management standards. It is therefore necessary to develop a Sustainability Management Plan that can be introduced in the Project Management Plan and thus influence the strategic and operational guidelines of the Institution.

Managing complexity in projects: Extending the Cynefin framework

Recommendations for managing complexity in projects acknowledge different levels of complexity, but often neglect the importance of (non-)repetition. This paper uses the Cynefin framework, structuring problems along the levels of simple, complicated, complex, and chaotic, and the learning loop model as simple but practical tools to sort different project situations. Combining the degree of complexity with repeatability or uniqueness allows a typology of projects to guide management. Single-loop and double-loop learning from past experiences is restricted to the occurrence of similar situations, slicing, project management guidelines and frameworks to complicated projects. The more complex and novel the problem, the more likely that non-standard, non-algorithmic ways such as sensemaking, trial-and-error, and whole-systems approaches will yield satisfactory results. Expertise is useful for simple and complicated projects; however, for new and complex projects, experience, authority and trust, and recognition of abstract patterns (deutero learning) are more important.

Assessment of digital maturity of enterprises

The project management methodology is an approach to the formation of a set of methods that structures the project management system and is reflected in the manuals. The aim of the article is to increase the efficiency of IT project management by adapting existing management methodologies considering the characteristics of projects implemented in the company. Performing the following tasks allows to achieve the goal: - review of existing methodologies; - description of the object of study; - identification of key features of IT project management in the company OOO «ITSK»; - IT project management guidelines; - application of a corporate standard as part of an IT project in the oil and gas industry. The relevance of the article is explained by the wide distribution of IT projects of various fields of application, including projects to automate the activities of an oil and gas industry company that require management throughout the entire life cycle. The application of the project management methodology allows you to record the goals and results of the project, give them quantitative characteristics, determine the time, cost and quality parameters of the project, create a realistic plan for the project, identify, assess risks and prevent possible negative consequences during the implementation of the project. In the course of the work, a brief analysis of the existing project management methodologies was carried out, the specifics of IT project management described, the adaptation of the methodology in the oil and gas industry and the description of the standard used within the company are reflected. Using an example of a project to automate monitoring of KPIs, the application of a corporate methodology based on best practices was demonstrated.

Improving research labs’ performance through project management guidelines: a case study analysis

PurposeThe article aims to critically analyze the project management developed by research laboratories of a Brazilian university in order to enhance their performance. For this, a critical analysis was performed to identify existing opportunities about the management of schedules and resources. Additionally, a software was developed to enable performance improvement.Design/methodology/approachThe methodological procedures used were literature review, for a theoretical foundation, and case study conducted with semi-structured interviews, documentary research and on-site visits. Through a detailed critical analysis of the laboratories' management, it was possible to understand the activities developed and map the main difficulties observed.FindingsA total of five plausible points of improvement were identified, namely reduced teams and accumulation of activities; team seasonality; centralized management; deviations from projects and schedule control. Based on the theoretical foundation, it has been proposed adjustments to minimize the mentioned difficulties that can greatly contribute for better management efficiency of multiple research projects. In addition, a software was structured based on the proposed improvements. The laboratories' performance was monitored for a month and significant improvements were observed.Practical implicationsThe information presented here may be of great value to other researchers interested in enhancing research laboratory performance.Originality/valueThe academic literature presents several examples of project management guidelines application in different organizations; however, there are few studies about the application of them in research laboratories and how to improve their performance.

Organisational routines in multi-project contexts: Coordinating in an urban development project ecology

Project management literature have focused on either intra-organisational relationships or on vertical inter-organisational relationships. The purpose of this paper is to explore inter-project interdependencies and coordinating in multi-project contexts by using the notion of project ecologies. We adopt an organisational routines perspective to explore the coordinating practices managing those interdependencies. The empirical material underpinning our findings were collected and analysed through a case study of an urban development district, new to both the project ecology literature and the organisational routines literature. The findings highlight the existence and importance of horizontal interdependencies in project ecologies, as compared to the more commonly studied interdependencies in vertical relationships within and between projects. The need for horizontal coordinating is outside project managers’ regular focus on steering vertical relationships. Accordingly, the routines to manage the horizontal interdependencies in project ecologies are different to those in more engineered routines that are often described in project management guidelines.

Application of project management tools in engineering services companies: Four case studies

A methodological proposal is designed for the planning of the scope, time and cost that strengthens the management of the projects developed by the services companies of Cúcuta and its metropolitan area. In the first phase, a descriptive study was carried out based on a maturity diagnosis which included the relevant tools to measure the culture in the planning of the scope, time and cost of the projects, which was validated by experts in PMI and applied in thirty companies to the officers who are in charge of the management of the projects. The second stage consisted in the selection of fifteen tools and techniques of the scope, time and cost management of the PMBOK Guide applicable in the methodological proposal according to the diagnosis. Finally, methodological guidelines for project management were designed in four social services companies, technology and computer science and civil constructions in which the tools defined in the proposal were incorporated, which will become guidelines for the execution of the projects guaranteeing the fulfilling of the deliverables, in the estimated time and with the assigned budget.

Multiple Modular Building Construction Project Scheduling Using Genetic Algorithms

Modular construction offers several advantages, such as safe working conditions, fast construction, and high-quality end products. The project scheduling of modular construction should consider the time involved in the factory production, transportation, and erection processes of the units given limited resources (e.g., the number of modular units, available transportation, and workers) and project restrictions (e.g., the sequences of manufacturing production and on-site installation). However, current modular construction project scheduling techniques and previous academic approaches cannot deal with the overall project processes and production/on-site installation sequences simultaneously. This is one reason few mass-production multiple projects exist in the manufacturing industry. Moreover, it can lead to inappropriate project management guidelines and fail to minimize the overall project duration. This paper suggests a model for modular construction projects scheduling using a genetic algorithm. The results show that implementing both overall project processes and project requirements is an efficient way to develop a modular construction project schedule. The proposed optimization tool will help project managers allocate resources efficiently and reduce the completion time of multiple projects.

Practical Tips for Successful Implementation of Educational Innovations: Project Management Tools for Health Professional Educators.

This article was migrated. The article was marked as recommended. Background: Growing demands from health professional educators lead to expectations for smooth implementation of high-stake endeavors such as developing and successfully launching educational innovations ranging from curricular sessions to new programs under time constraints. Usually, multiple requirements, resources, and processes need to be identified, evaluated, and effectively utilized, making the process difficult and confusing. Personnel and operations must be aligned to create momentum for a successful workflow, which requires planning and negotiation with stakeholders. Increasingly, project management strategies and skills have been recommended to medical educators for accomplishing these goals; however, to-date no practical tools or templates have been provided to support and guide educational implementation processes in a practical fashion. Aim: Adjusted to the needs of medical educators across all healthcare professions, we provide interactive templates and tools in the appendix, which walk readers through the implementation of a complete educational project from start to finish. Methods: Using project management guidelines established by the Project Management Institute (PMI), the global credentialing body for the project management profession, the tools and templates follow best practices that were aligned with standards of curriculum development (six-step approach) as published by Kern and colleagues ( Thomas, Kern, Hughes & Chen (Eds.), 2016). Results: We identified a practical workflow for implementing educational innovations and developed interactive tools and templates as guides for tracking and presenting progress for the launch of educational projects of any scale, large or small. Conclusions/summary statement: Developing and implementing complex, multistep endeavors such as collaborative educational sessions or programs can be mastered successfully using project management tools and templates. Based on international project management guidelines and best practices, the authors outline how project management tools and templates allow medical educators to streamline successful systematic planning, engage in creative-problem solving and establish consensus under time constraints.

Implementation Framework of Green Building for Government Building: Menara Kerja Raya, Malaysia

The purpose of this study is to develop the implementation of the framework of the government green building (GB) project in Malaysia. The research intended to investigate the factors involved in the development of the framework and significant relationships that exist among the factors. A total of 30 respondents were selected from Menara Kerja Raya (MKR) project team that included engineers, assistant engineers, technical assistant, stakeholders, contractors, and consultants. The pilot test analysis was conducted using the quantitative analysis and hypothesis testing through SPSS 22.0. In conclusion, the ‘types of project execution’ was the main factor to make the successful delivery of the GB projects followed by project management and policies guidelines, project staff perceptions, and the government policies. This framework would contribute to the existence of the GB implementation as well as serve as a basic platform for efficient and systematic execution of its projects in Malaysia. It is hoped that the implementation of this framework could promote the success of GB delivery, especially to the Malaysian government projects.

ROADMAP FOR THE IMPLEMENTARION OF A PROJECT MANAGEMENT MODEL IN A SME OF ENGINEERING AND TURN-KEY SUPPLY OF INDUSTRIAL EQUIPMENT

Project management is focused on planning, executing, monitoring and controlling of all aspects of a project, defined as a temporary effort to carry out a unique result, in order to achieve the targets set under the criteria of time, quality and cost restrictions. In a small or medium-sized organization focused on this type of activity, the integration of the various factors involved in the project life cycle is needed. A roadmap developed as a set of guidelines for effective project management, tailored to this type of organizations but based on the existing sets of best practices and methodological standards (traditionally oriented to huge corporations), is pursued in this work through a comprehensive-qualitative analysis added to an interview approach.

Analysis of critical processes in the implementation of lean manufacturing projects using project management guidelines

Many companies have achieved significant results in recent decades by adopting the lean manufacturing philosophy, but its implementation still leaves room for improvement. The literature on this subject cites several critical processes during the implementation of lean projects that should be identified and improved to ensure even better results. This article aims to contribute to the aforementioned body of literature by assessing lean manufacturing projects using project management guidelines, specifically the 47 processes published in the 5th edition of the Project Management Body of Knowledge. Based on questionnaire-aided interviews with 17 professionals (eight corporate managers and nine experts with PhDs in this area), we found that the most critical processes in the implementation of lean projects involve procurement, stakeholder, communication, human resources, and risk management. The results presented here were validated using the techniques of multidimensional scaling, exploratory factor analysis, and descriptive statistics.

Risks Evaluation of Sahand New Town 1226 Housing Project and Exploring Their Effects on Time and Cost of the Project

The main objective of this research is Risks Evaluation of Sahand New Town 1226 housing Project by means of Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK) model in Iran. PMBOK presents a set of standards and guidelines for project management. After reviewing the literatures, 22 risk items have been identified. 19 risks were finalized under 5 factors of Administrative, environmental, economic and political and organizational using exploratory analysis. Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) method under four criteria cost, time, quality and safety was used to select 2 work packages as the most important work packages. Consequently, the activities of the selected work packages were obtained via opinion’s experts. Then, the risks were categorized into direct risks and indirect risks using semi-structural interview with experts. Results showed that financial risk was known as most important indirect threat and risk of delay in supply and mistakes in construction were the most important direct threat. Finally, the impact of risks on time and cost of the project were obtained as the follow: the project with 90% probability would finish with 29.39 months delay. Similarly, with 90% probability will have 4003.837IRR increase in cost.

Ecodesign in project management: a missing link for the integration of sustainability in product development?

Abstract Although ecodesign is a well-defined concept in the literature, the potential exists to increase its use and effectiveness in practice and in the company context. By searching for new approaches that could foster ecodesign application, this article explores the points of intersection between ecodesign and project management. The research approach combines a systematic literature review with a case study conducted at a consumer goods manufacturer that is recognised as a relevant benchmark in sustainability commitment and practices. The analysis of the literature reveals that project management principles are addressed in a limited manner in specialised articles on ecodesign, and no specific articles on project management were found that address issues of environmental product development and environmental sustainability. The case study indicates that environmental requirements interfere with project management, thus creating new challenges for the project teams. This study reveals that the gap identified between the two areas of knowledge can be considered as a missing link that, if filled, could enhance the effectiveness of ecodesign in the product development process. This new link would complement the current ecodesign approaches that focus on technical tools and organisational aspects by introducing original and useful guidelines for sustainable project management.

Does investment in project management pay off?

Purpose – There is a significant knowledge gap in the common understanding regarding the value that investment leading to an increase in project management maturity brings to the organisation. The purpose of this paper is to narrow this gap by investigating the relationship between an increase in the project management maturity level and the project's performance. Additionally, it advocates the investment roadmap approach. Design/methodology/approach – This study is part of a worldwide research initiative into maturity in project management covering 447 global companies. For this purpose, survey data from experts from 194 select companies was analysed. Findings – The cost of forthcoming projects depends on the level of maturity of project management and type of industry. Research limitations/implications – The study is limited to three different industries (machinery, construction and information technology) and by the method of assessing their future project costs. New research directions are suggested. Practical implications – The results of the study should help companies in allocating limited resources appropriately using the proposed roadmap. Social implications – An increase in project management maturity can be achieved through different investment methods. This will benefit society as well. Originality/value – The paper focuses on global companies dealing in machinery. The area has not been explored sufficiently from the project management perspective. It discusses the relationship between an increase in maturity and future project costs in three industries: machinery, construction and information technology. The paper suggests practical guidelines for project management and sequences in proper investments when resources are limited.

Recovering large Brownfield projects in distress

A large body of knowledge exists about how to plan and establish projects for success; from project management guidelines to staged gate-execution methodologies. Despite such prescriptive means to guarantee project success, the upstream oil and gas industry has a poor track record for delivering large projects. Little guidance exists on how to restore delivery assurance to partially executed projects in distress. Furthermore, recovery efforts for large brownfield projects, mid-way through their execution, are further complicated and highly constrained. Operators and contractors alike are understandably concerned about the high failure rate of projects, particularly as Australia competes for global capital in the final investment decision for a project’s development. Issues cover the full spectrum of safety, cost, schedule, start-up, and operability. Furthermore, unanticipated issues such as industrial relations, resourcing, project controls, estimate basis, and design changes all play a central role in why projects find themselves in distress. In a recent case study, a structured recovery approach restored delivery assurance to a $900 m upstream brownfield project. Despite the numerous challenges encountered during the recovery efforts, the project went on to deliver ahead of its revised cost and schedule commitment, while also achieving outstanding safety performance. The self-governance program was instrumental in restoring delivery performance through responsive decision making that was robust, repeatable and preserved free calendar time for early intervention on high value recovery issues. The journey of recovery also restored a fractured client and contractor relationship by fostering a project delivery environment that was highly collaborative.

Changing Dynamics of Team Leadership in Global Project Environments

The dynamics and challenges of managing geographically dispersed project teams is examined in a field investigation of 72 multinational product developments, observed and studied between 2008 and 2012. The findings provide insight into the business processes and leadership style most conducive to cross-functional collaboration and effective project integration throughout the enterprise and its partners. The results show that many of the problems that surface on the technical side can be traced to social, psychological and organizational issues. In fact, people issues have the strongest impact on project performance. People are an intricate part of the work process. Issues affecting people, eventually impact the broader enterprise. On the positive side, the study shows that certain conditions, such as personal interest, pride and satisfaction with the work, professional work challenge, accomplishments and recognition, serve as catalysts toward unifying culturally diverse project teams and their work processes. These conditions act as bridging mechanisms between organizational goals and personal interests, between central control and local management norms, and between following a project plan and adaptive problem solving. However, working seamless across borders and cultures requires more than just issuing work orders, project summary plans or management guidelines. Emphasis must be on common values and goals to focus and unify the team. By recognizing the greater autonomy of all international partners as well as their cultural differences, management can build a true partnership among all the contributing organizations with strong linkages for communication, decision making and technology transfer that is sustainable over the project lifecycle. The paper suggests a framework for managerial actions and leadership for building high-performance multinational project teams.

Project Management Principles Applied in Academic Research Projects

Introduction One of the challenges faced by students that are involved in the acquisition of an academic degree, as Higher Education or a PhD., are related to the difficulties of development of a Academic Research Project. Such challenges are surrounded by incorrect determination of the research scope and complexity, the erroneous estimatives for the research conclusion (or even the time demand due to problems occurring during the research development) or even finishing with poor quality as something that were not expected by the advisor and other evaluators. These elements culminates in the application of Project Management Theory that is being studied by institutions such as the Project Management Institute--PMI (PMSURVEY.ORG, 2010) over the years and which aims to improve the process of project development in general, including academic projects aimed at scientific research in the university accordingly to MUSTARO & ROSSI, 2013. PMI is responsible for developing guidelines for project management as defined on the Project Management Body of Knowledge--PMBoK (PMI, 2008). From the presented scenario, the general objective of this paper is to establish link between academic research projects with the Project Management Theory. As specific objectives, this paper considers: 1) present the types of academic research projects that can be treated according to the precepts of the project, 2) provide project management theoretical foundations, and 3) present part of the process groups of PMBoK (Project Management Body of Knowledge), a framework widely used in over a hundred countries, linking these process groups to the academic research projects. To develop the proposed objectives and present the research results this paper is organized as follows: initially is described the Project Management Principles, then the processes involved in Initiating and Planning Process Groups are detailed based on PMBoK as well their relation with Academic Research Project. For each process group, their relation with the Knowledge Areas from PMBoK are detailed, and specific templates, as an Academic Research Project Plan Template, are presented. Finally, the conclusions are related and future works are suggested. Project Management Principles It is considered that the man have been using actions that turns to practices of project management since long time ago. It is also considered that some important monuments created throughout the history of modern man were built under the precepts of project management although these were not formalized at the time. Valle et al. (2010) show historical analyses that consider the concept of project management can be older than it looks. According to the authors, the construction of the pyramids of Egypt, the Great Wall of China and the Coliseum in Rome represent examples of man's efforts that must have been regimented by principles of project management. In the contemporary era is verified, as Valle et al. (2010), that several works were done under management of big monetary amounts and the work force of thousands of workers, which generated the need to implement project management practices. According to the authors, Taylor (1911) was a pioneer in the science of Project Management and Gantt (1919) was another student of these sciences. Both contributed greatly to the practices of modern project management. Although great events of the past suggested the theories of project management, it was only in the early twentieth century that the theories, methodologies and frameworks aimed at project management were in fact established. A timeline, according to Carvalho & Rabechini Jr. (2011), present great landmarks of project management from the twentieth century. This is able to present the evolution of project management practices and represents milestones in this setting, as shown in Table 1. In general, project management practices bring many benefits. …