Organizational Project Management Research Articles

Study on Project Management Organization for Large Quantity Projects Based on BIM Technology

Study on Project Management Organization for Large Quantity Projects Based on BIM Technology

A Systematic Review of Uncertainties in Software Project Management

It is no secret that many projects fail, regardless of the business sector, software projects are notoriously disaster victims, not necessarily because of technological failure, but more often due to their uncertainties. The threats identified by uncertainty in day-to-day of a project are real and immediate and the stakes in a project are often high. This paper presents a systematic review about software project management uncertainties. It helps to identify the difficulties and the actions that can minimize the uncertainties effects in the projects and how managers and teams can prepare themselves for the challenges of their projects scenario, with the aim of contributing to the improvement of project management in organizations as well as contributing to project success.

Organization of Innovative Project Management on the Base of Multimode Modeling of Probabilities Mixture of Labor Processes

In this study we suggest an approach to the organization of innovative projects management based on multimode modeling of probabilities mixture of labor processes. The proposed model allows managers to optimize the control actions influence on separate labor processes for achieving the innovative project result in the minimum time. Organization of management on the basis of the proposed model minimizes the risks of management bureaucracy and labor processes uncontrollability. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2014.v5n24p20

Research on the Design of the Project Management Processes and Organization Based on BIM

Computer Aided Design, referred to as CAD combining with each other modern project management theory currently is the mainstream of project management used in the construction industry. But with the continuous improvement of the complexity of the architectural design the drawbacks of the mainstream construction management has become more and more apparent. Under the circumstances, proposing the theory of BIM, shorter form of Building Information Modeling, opened up a new path for the project management informatization to continue developing. In this paper, based on the current BIM development trends and our own construction industry development laws, through a brief review of the development of CAD technology and BIM technology development history, put forward which construction industry issues the BIM can solve. And then based on comparing the research status in home and abroad and analysising the existing questions to develop BIM, improve the traditional project management model and build the proper 3D BIM project management processes.

Systemic analysis of the critical dimensions of project management that impact test and evaluation program outcomes

It is generally believed that adopting standard organizational project management (PM) practices enhances the capability of organizations to achieve program success and customer satisfaction. We asked what specific dimensions of PM practices have been most helpful to project and program managers of Test and Evaluation (T&E). This paper focuses on T&E PM within the Federal Aviation Administration, an agency of the US government. The objective was to identify the critical dimensions of PM that contribute to successful T&E execution and determine how these critical dimensions could be unified with technical processes to achieve customer satisfaction. By combining the expressive abilities of the Boardman Soft Systems Methodology with a case study approach, we identified a set of critical dimensions and created a conceptual model that unifies PM practices with T&E processes. We concluded with a set of critical project management practices that have impact for a T&E organization.

An Exploratory Study of Project Management Competency in Ghana

Project outcomes in Ghana have been adjudged to be poor as a result of how projects are managed, the form project management takes, and the project management approaches used. Low project management expertise has been identified as a contributory factor to how projects have been managed in Ghana. In the current study, the author adopted an exploratory research design approach to investigate project management competency in Ghana, using a purposively selected sample of 200 managers. Competency scores were used to determine organizational project management competency levels. Results showed that Ghanaian managers possess varying degrees of project integration, human resource, communication, quality, risk, and scope management competencies. The study recommends the systematic and deliberate improvement of project management competencies in order to increase the rate of project success in Ghana.

Alinhamento dos projetos de TI aos modelos de negócio das organizações

A necessidade de alinhar objetivos e estratégias da organização à execução dos portfólios, programas e projetos não é uma tarefa trivial. Muitas vezes, os projetos de TI são entregues com tecnologia revolucionária, no entanto, não em aderência plena às necessidades do negócio. O modelo de negócio (MN) pode ser visto como ferramenta conceitual essencial para capturar, compartilhar e criar uma visão comum do modelo da organização. O presente estudo buscou identificar o nível de maturidade do alinhamento dos projetos de tecnologia da informação (TI) aos modelos de negócio nas organizações no Brasil. Para tanto, foi realizada uma pesquisa exploratório-descritiva de natureza quantitativa com utilização do método levantamento de campo (survey). Responderam ao questionário 327 profissionais atuantes em projetos de TI de fevereiro a abril de 2012. Foram aplicadas técnicas estatísticas descritivas e univariadas, como a distribuição das frequências percentuais, além da análise multivariada, especificamente a técnica exploratória de Análise de Componentes Principais para Dados Categóricos (CATPCA). Em resposta ao objetivo principal desta pesquisa, obteve-se um escore de 3,42, classificado como nível de maturidade '3-estabilizado/ focado', isto indica o início da utilização da TI de forma estratégica nos negócios. A análise dos resultados também demonstrou que a formalização de uma sistemática de gestão de projetos de TI é um processo em solidificação crescente dentro das organizações, a estrutura organizacional funcional ainda é a mais praticada, embora a estrutura 'projetizada' tenha conquistado seu espaço, apresentando-se na segunda posição. O escritório de projetos lidera como sendo a área que seleciona, prioriza e monitora projetos. Por meio de testes de hipóteses, verificou-se que o escritório de projetos e a estrutura organizacional 'projetizada' são aspectos positivos e significativos no alinhamento dos projetos de TI aos modelos de negócios.

Understanding project success through analysis of project management approach

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to show that project success is dependent on the project management approach selected, relative to the challenges posed by the project, and to develop an analytical model for analyzing the performance of the project organization. Design/methodology/approach – The research is based on literature review, model development, interviews, and case studies. Findings – The findings define two different approaches in project management: The prescriptive approach focusses on the formal qualities of the project organization, including governing documentation and procedures. The adaptive approach focusses on the process of developing and improving a project organization, project culture and team commitment. The two approaches have been identified through studies of three different case projects. An analytical model, referred to as the Pentagon model, has been applied for analyzing the performance of the project organization and explaining the project management approach. The model focusses on five different organizational aspects: structure, technologies, culture, social relations and networks, and interaction. Research limitations/implications – The research is limited to megaprojects and to project management success. Practical implications – It is suggested that project teams consider and select their project management approach at project initiation, and accordingly decide on relevant success factors to focus on. The adapted Pentagon model can be applied to develop the project management organization and assess its performance in the course of project delivery. Originality/value – The contribution of the research is the application of the analytical model, and the identification as well as illustration of the prescriptive, vs adaptive management approach.

Identification of Influence Factors and Establishment of Evaluation Index System for OPM3 in Mega Construction Engineering Enterprise

<p class="p19">Based on Project Management Office (PMO) and Organizational Project Management Maturity Model (OPM3), 36 influence factors were firstly identified, which were extracted from organization structure framework and objective requirement of multi-project management in the mega construction engineering enterprise. These influence factors were reflected in the organizational support, informatization construction, and project management. The maturity evaluation index system was built and optimized by Principal Component Analysis (PCA) on the basis of questionnaire survey on the 238 national excellent project manager and high-level business executives. Consequently, 8 main factors were assessed quantitatively. The results show that the most important factor is contract management and coordination of strategy level, and the least important factor is market ability. The enterprise should pay more attention to organization construction, application of the tools and methods of multi-project management, enterprise culture and integration ability of multiple projects.</p>

A Proposal to Manage Lessons Learned in Projects: Web 2.0 Technologies to Promote Innovation

The web 2.0 is transforming the project management in organizations by improving communication and collaboration. The new generation of web-based collaborative tools provides much better experience than the traditional software package allowing document sharing, integrated task tracking, enforcing team processes and agile planning. Despite of the indubitable benefits brought by web 2.0, the use of these technologies to promote knowledge management remains unexplored. For many project managers to obtain and integrate information from different tools of previous similar projects in global organizations remains a challenge. This theoretical paper presents a proposal that suggests an innovation in the knowledge management area applying web 2.0 technologies. The main goal is to provide an integrated vision of a set of technologies that could be used by organizations in order to promote better management of lessons learned. The proposal includes the lessons learned processes (e.g. capture, share and dissemination), the process-based (e.g. project review and after action review) and documentation-based (e.g. micro article and learning histories) methods. Results show how web 2.0 technologies can help project managers and team project to cope with the main lessons learned processes and methods to learn from experience. Moreover, recommendations are made for the effective use of web 2.0 components promoting innovation and supporting lessons learned management in projects.Keywords: Project management; Lessons learned processes; lessons learned methods; project learning; web 2.0 technologies; innovation.

Teaching Organizational Project Management at Postgraduate Level

At postgraduate level, students expect more than basic project management education. Therefore a course called “Organisational Project Management” (OPM) was introduced in an international master's program in project management. The intention with the course was twofold: Firstly, to introduce OPM as a research field in organization theory; secondly, to prepare the students for working in a multi-project environment.In this paper we present how the course was designed to fulfill the students’ demands on an academic course at this level, while at the same time giving them practical experience of how OPM is implemented in the industry. Hence, the course is divided in a theoretical part presenting current theories in OPM, and a practical part, in which the students study how these theories and practices are applied in different companies. The students are working in a project spanning from initiation to closure, in which they prepare for and perform a maturity assessment of a company of their choice.The course has been run in six consecutive programs. From start, feedback from the students has shown that they consider the learning outcome very high and useful for their future work life. For some of the students, this is the first time that they have been provided an opportunity to discuss organizational issues and concepts such as project governance and project portfolio management with a manager in the industry. For students with work experience, the course has provided means to reflect on their previous work life.

The Reality of Project Management Practice in Russia: Study Results

Russian Project Management Association SOVNET and National Research University – Higher School of Economics conducted the study to generate better knowledge about project management practices in the real world of Russian economy by painting a true picture of the use and perceived value of project management tools and techniques. The main questions were the following: what is maturity level of organizational project management in Russian companies; what are the values associated with project management usage in Russian companies; which project management tools and techniques are used in reality, considered as the most valuable and are planned to be used in the future. The questionnaire was developed based on analysis of recent academic papers in the field of project management all over the world and real practice of project management in Russia. Theoretical background of the study is the value-driven project management model by G.Kerzner, Bessner&Hobbs investigation on project management tools and techniques, organizational project management maturity models. Individuals from more than 140 companies answered the questionnaire. Respondents came from different sectors (Information Technology, Financial Services, Engineering & Construction, Telecommunications, Oil&Gas, Education, Consulting and others). Respondents reported working in different organizational roles and also reported having significant experience in project management. The tools and techniques that were studied included 36 well-known project management tools and techniques such as cost/benefit analysis, critical path method, critical chain method, earned value management, work breakdown structure etc. The list of values of project management consists of 18 values, i.e. projects’ time and cost, transparency of project-oriented activity, image of a company, customer's satisfaction, cross-functional interaction and others. Analysis of the survey results allows to determine dependencies between level of company's maturity level in project management, used project management tools and techniques, and values gained by the company from project management.

An Investigation into Psychological Stress Detection and Management in Organisations Operating in Project and Construction Management

While psychologists remain divided whether ‘workplace stress’ is caused by workplace experiences or other factors, it's commonly accepted that, regardless of cause, people experiencing stress can demonstrate decreased workplace performance. From a human performance and productivity perspective, from whence stress arises is somewhat irrelevant–the relevant fact is that it's far more important to have systems and procedures in place to contribute to avoidance of undue work environment- caused stress. It is also important to identify when an employee is exhibiting signs of stress than it is to focus only on remedial measures for when stress effects have already taken their toll on a person. Many organisations engage external service providers to deal with management of stress effects on people. It has not been clear how many organisations engaged in construction or project management address workplace environment as a potential causal factor in stress as part of organisational risk management. This paper focuses more on what leading construction and project management organisations are doing (and according to benchmark practice, should be doing) to address the matter of stress impacts on employees from a three phase perspective–environmental stressors, management training to identify early signs of stress, and managing employee stress when it is clearly affecting performance. The paper also proposes an approach by which organisations in construction and project management can become more effective in this three phase approach to stress management in the workplace, based on a pilot study which is the basis of more in-depth research currently under way at Bond University.

Project Complexity as an Influence Factor on the Balance of Costs and Benefits in Project Management Maturity Modeling

Project management maturity models provide a framework to gauge an organization's project management competences. The basic premise in connection with these models is that with a higher maturity level, the chances for an organization to successfully complete its projects increase. As it seems to be apparent that professional project management is possible below the highest maturity level, both academics and professionals have asked the question for an “ideal” maturity level for a certain organization. Since every action of an organization to increase its maturity level will be connected to some (opportunity) cost, this ideal level stands for an optimal ratio of investment in an enhanced project management maturity and the benefits that accrue from this maturity level.Some research has been conducted in this field, particularly in the path of Return on Investment of project management. The question what factors and parameters influence or determine the ideal maturity level remains unanswered, yet, and thus requires further exploration.In this paper the results of a number of qualitative case studies with industrial enterprises are presented. The data of the case research indicate a linkage of the benefits of a high level of project management maturity to the degree of complexity of the projects undertaken by the companies. Drivers of project complexity resulting from the cases are introduced.A possible moderating function of project complexity towards the relationship between project management maturity and project success is currently researched via a quantitative field study, whose approach is explained.

In Pursuit of Indicators: Should They be the Only Success Criteria for Projects Financed within the Framework of Human Capital Operational Programme?

Projects dedicated to labour market improvements in Poland that are funded within the framework of the Human Capital Operational Programme (HCOP) are perceived by financing bodies as successes when they are completed on time, within budget, and meet all specifications set in the project plan. Impact, product and result indicators are crucial for EU-funded projects. According to the rules, the national ministries try to achieve the indicators at the national level and divide (disaggregate) the indicators within regions using an algorithm.As research shows, some of the indicators are averaged for an entire region and are not always adequate for the local situation in the district. The investigated local and regional labour market organizations measure projects’ effects by referring to the rates imposed at country level, but research has shown that sometimes these indicators have forced project managers to focus on the artificial rates, not on the quest for value creation for stakeholders through projects.This paper is based on the analysis of evaluation reports on the implementation of the monitoring indicators for the HCOP and a subset of the data obtained from a broader research on project management in the Polish public labour market organizations. The main aim of this paper is to draw attention to the problems with the current method of setting and monitoring indicators for EU-funded projects and programs dedicated to labour market development. The author argues that the current method of determining HCOP indicators causes public organizations to place all their attention and focus on achieving top-down imposed indicators, which are often artificial and incompatible with local realities, rather than focusing on realizing value for stakeholders. This means that the success of HCOP projects is mostly defined by meeting indicators, instead of bringing value to the society.

Hybrid Fuzzy-ontological Project Framework of a Team Work Simulation System

The aim of this article is to present the project framework for constructing a Software Process Simulation Modeling (SPSM) system. SPSM systems can be used as a virtual environment for the selection of methods and tools of project management in IT support organizations. The constructed system simulates the Scrum methodology, including the management processes and the project roles. For the implementation of Scrum processes, the Scrum ontology is proposed and for the competences of the roles of project team members, a fuzzy-logic representation. As a result we present the hybrid fuzzy-ontological system. The framework of the design processes proposed in the article was verified on the basis of real courses of project management processes in a large IT company.

OPM3® Portugal Project: Analysis of Preliminary Results

Project Management (PM) has emerged as a crucial factor that determines the success of an organization. In this sense, there is a growing concern for organizations to assess their PM maturity. This paper presents the PM maturity results for 19 organizations, using Organizational Project Management Maturity Model (OPM3 ® ) emerging from OPM3 ® Portugal Project research, that is presently in progress. All aspects of OPM3 ® Portugal Project are explained in detail, and a brief descriptive analysis of the 19 organizations assessed is presented. The preliminary results were obtained using two scoring methods, and are presented in tables organized by PM processes, Portfolio Management processes and Organizational Enablers areas. No other similar studies were found, thus it was not possible to compare the preliminary Portuguese results with other results.

Evaluating Project Management Software Packages Using a Scoring Model—A Comparison between MS Project and Primavera

Since the Mid 1980’s, an increasing number of project management software packages (PMSP) has appeared in the market to support project management organizations. Despite the wide spread of PMSP, projects based organizations are left unguided as to how they should select the most appropriate software tool for their intended business use. The aim of this research was to apply a scoring model developed using ISO/IEC 14,000 software evaluation criteria to evaluate the effectiveness of two software packages in terms of functionality and price, and produce a summary of the evaluation records. To achieve research objective, a questionnaire survey method was used to investigate the two different project management software packages. One questionnaire was circulated among software users in various locations and another was targeting the software vendors. The findings of this study revealed differences between the two packages under investigation and highlighted the strength and weakness of each package. The author was able to assess the efficiency of each software package and provided a score for each attribute which helps the user to understand how the software package performs. This investigation revealed that the software user is not concerned with the most sophisticated package, or the package that has more advanced tools and features. What is more important for the user is their need to produce simple time charts, simple resource and cost analysis and basic reports.

Developing a Scoring Model to Evaluate Project Management Software Packages Based on ISO/IEC Software Evaluation Criterion

Since the mid 1980s, an increasing number of project management software packages (PMSP) have appeared in the market to support project management organizations. Currently there are more than 500 software tools available. They vary widely both in their prices and capabilities. Despite the wide spread of PMSP, project-based organizations are left unguided as to how they should select the most appropriate software tool for their intended business use. The aim of this paper was to develop an evaluation/scoring module suitable for comparing different project management software packages to help select the most appropriate package. The evaluation model is based on the ISO/IEC evaluation criterion that takes into consideration all the necessary features and characteristics required in project management software. The evaluation model will provide software users and project organizations with a useful tool to compare various packages available in the market and select the best that suits their business needs.

Standing on the shoulders of strategic management giants to advance organizational project management

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to examine relevant issues within the strategic management domain related to concepts and terms used within the resource-based view and dynamic capabilities (DC) theory. The paper explains how these theories from strategic management can be translated for organizational project management (OPM). The paper also shares lessons learned by the co-authors as used in project management.Design/methodology/approach– Based on a literature review and research experience of co-authors, the paper bridges two theories from the strategic management field to OPM and demonstrates conceptual challenges experienced.Findings– From a translational perspective, the paper outlines how theories from strategic management can be adopted to OPM. Since OPM is evolving, there is merit in drawing from a solid theoretical foundation such as those found in strategic management.Research limitations/implications– This paper is conceptual and makes a case for further empirical research using strategic management literature. Only recently has research in project management raised the important topic of translating knowledge from more established fields (the giants) to project management research.Practical implications– Strategic management theories offer insights that can be leveraged to make OPM environments more effective through improved research foundations.Originality/value– By critically exploring and assessing the resource-based view and DC bodies of literature, this paper's value rests in applying learnings from these fields to OPM and to develop a clearer understanding of concepts and emphasize their importance.