Short-term Projects Research Articles

Should We All Work in Sprints? How Agile Project Management Improves Performance

Problem definition: Agile project management, in particular Scrum, is enjoying increased use in practice despite only scant scientific validation. This article explores how agile project management impacts project performance and execution. We compare the effects of agile sprints—short-term project phases characterized by time-boxed progression from one sprint to the next and self-imposed, phase-specific output goals—with those of traditional project management. Methodology/results: We decompose the two sprint elements of time-boxed progression and self-imposed, phase-specific output goals as factors in a 2 × 2 experimental design. We then conceptualize project execution as a simple real-effort task and conduct a controlled laboratory study. For a given duration, participants perform better with time-boxed progression as, without it, that is, with flexible progression, they spend too much time on early project phases at the expense of later ones. We refer to this effect as “progression fallacy” and show how it differs from well-known behavioral effects that cause project delays. Introducing self-imposed, phase-specific output goals in combination with time-boxed progression, as proposed by Scrum, does not significantly improve performance when compared with time-boxed progression alone. However, the combination of self-imposed, phase-specific output goals and flexible progression, as is common in traditional project management, amplifies the progression fallacy with the result that goal-setting has a negative performance effect. In two control treatments, we show that the progression fallacy is robust to planning and progression prompts despite some mitigation. Managerial implications: This study contributes evidence of higher project performance when working in agile sprints, which mitigate behavioral flaws present in traditional project management. Not only do these behavioral insights apply to project management; they are also relevant in the broader context of task completion.

Management of industrial enterprise development in conditions of industry 4.0

Introduction. The impact of the Industry 4.0 concept on domestic business needs to be considered in the long run, which means that overcoming its problems is not a short-term project. However, the technologies and systems of the fourth industrial revolution have the potential to help Ukrainian enterprises overcome the inefficiencies in their business that have kept domestic enterprises behind. The purpose of the paper is to identify the benefits and challenges that domestic industrial enterprises may face in the process of development during the integration into their activities modern technologies from Industry 4.0. Results. Industry 4.0 can replace outdated systems, such as industrial operations management and resource planning systems, with a single system that is a much more cost-effective way to operate. Three aspects of digitalization have been identified, which form the basis of the Industry 4.0 approach to industrial enterprise development: full digitalization of industrial enterprise operations; redesign of products and services; closer interaction with customers through new processes, products and services. It is determined that the most common problem in the implementation of analytical capabilities in enterprises is the lack of people with experience in conducting analysis. The expanded implementation of Industry 4.0 can provide a sufficient competitive advantage for investors to consider it as a qualifying factor for financing. Six key recommendations that industry should follow in order to implement the Industry 4.0 strategy have been identified. Conclusion. Industry 4.0 is actively promoted around the world and developing countries should benefit the most. Domestic industrial enterprises can use digitalization to increase the efficiency of their horizontal integration, working with global manufacturers to whom they supply a variety of raw materials, parts and components. The domestic market has great potential for the introduction of new technological solutions in the activities of enterprises.

Competition, Contracts, and Creativity: Evidence from Novel Writing in a Platform Market

A growing number of people today are participating in the gig economy, working as independent contractors on short-term projects. We study the effects of competition on gig workers’ effort and creativity on a Chinese novel-writing platform. Authors produce and sell their works chapter by chapter under a revenue-sharing or pay-by-the-word contract with the platform. Exploiting a regulation that induced a massive entry of novels in the romance genre but not other genres, we find that, on average, intensified competition led authors to produce content more quickly, whereas its effect on book novelty was weak. However, revenue-sharing books responded to competition substantially more than pay-by-the-word books, particularly regarding novelty. Moreover, the effect of competition on novelty is considerably stronger for books at earlier stages of the product life cycle. Finally, the platform increased the promotion of contracted books, which disproportionately favored pay-by-the-word books. We discuss the implications of these results for creative workers, platform firms, and policy makers in the gig economy. This paper was accepted by Anandhi Bharadwaj, information systems. Supplemental Material: Data and the online appendix are available at https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2022.4329 .

Framework for a Predictive Progress Model – case of infrastructure projects

ABSTRACT Project progress is an apprehension for every project, as it indicates how the project is likely to meet the associated milestones. Utilizing historical data from archived projects can assist managers in predicting project progress. By leveraging the power of data analytics, this research attempts to highlight data trends based on data collected from 279 infrastructure projects in the UAE. Specifically, this research rigorously analyses the relationships between project budget, duration, and progress using K-means clustering techniques and hypothesis testing. We then provide predictive models using Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average – ARIMùA and Multivariate regression models that allow managers to predict with a 99.15% accuracy the monthly progress of an infrastructure project over the next three months. This research provides project managers with a comprehensive framework that combines data analytics techniques with agility practices to predict short-term project progress to take proactive measures on different influencing factors.

Intensive Innovation Experience: Which Skills can be activated using a short-term PBL Project?

Objectives: Through this study, the researchers aimed to determine which skills were developed during a short-term project PBL-like event named Expin-48. Methods: A descriptive evaluative study involving participant observation, questionnaires and focus groups enabled comparisons between observations of mentors and the perceptions of students on the nature of skill development in a short-term problem-oriented project. Results: Leadership and teamwork were the skills which stood out as critical for success in collaborative student-centered projects. Conclusion: PBL in the form of short-term project can work as an efficient educative learning event. Activation of essential skills required for engineering projects was evident in the learning process and outcomes.

The Basics of Setting up Successful Teaching Labs and Short-Term Projects with C. elegans.

Caenorhabditis elegans is an excellent organism for teaching or doing short-term research projects because of the many freely-available comprehensive resources describing its genome and biology, its short-generation time and the ease of working with it in the lab. However, it can be daunting to begin a short-term project or a teaching lab with an organism with which one has little or no experience. Therefore, in this article, we will discuss the minimal equipment, reagents, and protocols needed to begin doing experiments with C. elegans as well as inclusive teaching practices. We will also describe a teaching laboratory for introductory or advanced neuroscience undergraduate courses where students learn to understand the relationship between genetic mutations and behavior through using chemotaxis assays. In addition, instructions for students for the lab module are provided in Subheading "Example of Teaching Lab Module for Students".

Exchange Project in Vocational Colleges—Taking Guizhou Light Industry Technical College as an Example

China has carried out cultural exchanges and cooperation with countries along the Belt and Road area in a wide range of fields, with rich contents and in various forms. The short-term cultural exchange project of vocational colleges is a cultural exchange activity developed under this background. “Zhi & Xing Guizhou” Silk Road Youth Exchange Programme is a youth exchange brand project of China-ASEAN Education Cooperation Week (CAECW), in which the light industry cultural experience activity carried out by Guizhou Light Industry Technical College is one of the representative activities of short-term cultural exchanges in vocational colleges. This study applies the methods of literature research, case study, and participatory observation. To meet the international dissemination of regional culture from the perspective of the audience, this study takes the light industry cultural experience activity carried out by Guizhou Light Industry Technical College. The research objects include the cultural products and learning achievements of international ?youth. This paper presents the effectiveness of the short-term cultural exchange project in vocational colleges in the form of rich pictures and texts. We analyze and summarize the experience and practices of such cultural experience projects and provide suggestions for creating typical cases of characteristic short-term international research culture projects.

Legal status of business partnerships under the legislation of the Republic of Kazakhstan and the Russian Federation

The progress of market relations without fail requires a theoretical understanding of the various legal forms of doing business, where special attention is given to business partnerships. In world practice, such enterprises are successfully used for small and medium-sized businesses. At the present stage, this legal form is used to create short-term joint ventures, especially for the implementation of short-term investment projects. The issues of the legal status of business partnerships as a factor of sustainable development are traditionally widely covered in civil law, at the same time, the legal status of business partnerships of the Republic of Kazakh-stan and the Russian Federation should be given more attention in the context of the realities of today's innovative processes and reforming national legislation. The research using approbation of a set of scientific methods made it possible to reveal legal approaches to the study of business partnerships, to analyse the relevant cur-rent legislative framework, to assess its effectiveness and compliance with the re-quirements of updated business processes. The article substantiates that business partnerships are the most accessible legal form of doing business in many coun-tries, while also remaining the prevailing form in the territory of the Republic of Kazakhstan and the Russian Federation. In turn, it was stated that the legislation of the Russian Federation is only on the way of its comprehensive reform in the field of legal regulation of the position of business partnerships (general and lim-ited partnerships), which requires a balanced development and adoption of a sin-gle federal normative legal act.

ARIEL & SANDA nuclear data activities

Nuclear data are fundamental quantities for developing nuclear energy concepts and research. They are essential for the simulation of nuclear systems, safety and performance calculations, and reactor instrumentation. Nuclear data improvement requires a combination of many different know-hows that are distributed over many institutions along Europe. In the EURATOM call for Nuclear Fission and Radiation Protection NFRP-2018, two nuclear data projects were started in September 2019: the Coordination and Support Action ARIEL (Accelerator and Research reactor Infrastructures for Education and Learning) and the Research and Innovation Action SANDA (Solving Challenges in Nuclear Data for the Safety of European Nuclear facilities). The ARIEL project integrates education and training of young scientists and technicians with access to neutron beam research infrastructures and supports scientific visits to conduct short-term research projects relevant to thesis works. The SANDA project is focuses on research innovation actions, including detector and nuclear target development, important nuclear data measurements, nuclear data evaluation, and validation. A description of these ongoing projects, including the first results, is the subject of this article.

СОЦІАЛЬНА ВІДПОВІДАЛЬНІСТЬ ТУРИСТИЧНОГО БІЗНЕСУ В УКРАЇНІ: ОСОБЛИВОСТІ СТАНОВЛЕННЯ ТА ПЕРСПЕКТИВИ РОЗВИТКУ

The article examines the areas of social responsibility implementation in the tourism business of Ukraine. Its characteristic features are the one-time or periodic participation of tourism business entities in individual socio-ecological activities, charity, sponsorship or volunteering, short-term partnership or participation in the implementation of individual short-term projects, individual development of strategies or programs of corporate social responsibility. In the practice of implementing CSR in Ukrainian tourism, responsible behavior is demonstrated by companies that work under the names of well-known international brands, or are representatives of national tourism businesses that have entered the international market, and for which CSR is a mandatory condition for cooperation with partners and clients. Examples and main directions of social programs implemented by domestic tourism enterprises are given. On the basis of the conducted analysis, a conclusion was made about low social activity at the enterprises of the tourism industry of Ukraine, the absence of a monitoring and control mechanism for the implementation of the measures. Among the main problems of low social activity of the tourism business, the high cost of CSR activities, low culture of social entrepreneurship, lack of understanding of the strategic advantages of socially responsible management, reluctance to integrate social and environmental issues into the business processes of one's enterprise are highlighted. The study of successful examples of national and international experience in the implementation of the CSR strategy in tourism made it possible to identify promising areas of socially responsible activities of tourism industry enterprises: responsibility to employees, responsibility to clients, partners and the public, environmental responsibility. A proposed system of long-term initiatives for the gradual introduction of corporate social responsibility into the tourism business in Ukraine. Such initiatives should be implemented through a transparent and honest policy towards tourists, fair treatment of staff, consideration of ethical principles by all participants in the creation of the value chain, compliance with international and national standards of service and safety.

The Effect of Project Management on Long-term Project Performance: Forecasting Construction Engineering Industry

최근 건설프로젝트는 대형화, 복잡화되고 있으며 다수의 개별 사업들이 종합적으로 연계된 복합사업으로 발주되는 경우가 증가하고 있는 추세여서 프로젝트 수행의 위험도는 증가하고 있고 프로젝트 관리역량 부족으로 손실이 발생되고 있는 실정이다. 이러한 상황속에서 프로젝트의 성과를 달성하기 위해서는 체계적이고 전문적인 프로젝트 관리가 필요하다는 인식이 대두되고 있다. 본 연구는 프로젝트를 기반으로 하는 건설엔지니어링 산업에서 프로젝트 관리가 단기적 프로젝트 성과와 장기적 프로젝트 성과에 미치는 영향과 단기적 프로젝트 성과가 기업의 장기적 프로젝트 성과에 미치는 영향을 검증하였다. 그 결과, 첫째, 계약관리와 리스크관리가 단기적 프로젝트 성과에 영향을 미치는 것으로 나타났다. 둘째, 계약관리 및 멀티프로젝트관리가 장기적 프로젝트 성과에 영향을 미치는 것으로 나타났다. 셋째, 단기적 프로젝트 성과는 장기적 프로젝트 성과에 미치는 것으로 나타났다. 본 연구를 통해 건설엔지니어링 기업의 장기적인 프로젝트 성과 및 목표달성을 위해서는 체계적인 프로젝트 관리의 필요성을 증명하고, 이를 통해 프로젝트 관리의 표준화와 글로벌 경쟁력을 확보하여 부가가치가 높은 PM 시장 진출에 일조하고자 한다.In recent years, construction projects are increasing in complexity and size, and the number of projects that are comprehensively linked complex projects is increasing; therefore, the risk regarding project implementation is increasing—consequently, the loss caused by the lack of project management capabilities of engineers is also increasing. In this situation, there is a growing perception that systematic and professional project management is necessary to ensure strong project performance, that is, project management is essential for ensuring that project completion criteria are fulfilled. This study verified the effect of project management on short- term project performance and long-term project performance in the project-based construction engineering industry, and the effect of short-term project performance on long-term project performance of companies. Consequently, first, this study revealed that contract and risk management affect short-term project performance. Second, this study showed that contract and multi-project management influence long-term project performance. Finally, this study revealed that short-term project performance influences long-term project performance. Thus, this study proved that systematic project management is necessary for ensuring strong performance of long-term projects and goal achievement of construction engineering companies; thus, project management enhances the global competitiveness of these companies, facilitating their entry in the high value-added PM market.

Science and Technology ODA Promotion of Korea through ICT of Global Problem Solving Centers -Suggestion on the mid- and short-term projects promotion of science and technology ODA roadmap-

The Korean government proposed the K-SDGs in 2019 to promote the UN SDGs, but the role and tasks of science and technology, an important means of implementing the SDGs, have not been materialized. Accordingly, the role of science and technology ODA for the SDGs was established through the Ministry of Science and ICT's policy research project 'Science and Technology ODA Promotion Roadmap for Spreading the New Southern Policy and Realizing the 2030 SDGs'. In addition, goals, strategies, and core tasks for the next 10 years were derived in 10 fields such as water, climate change, energy, and ICT. In this paper, we analyze 30 key tasks of the ODA promotion roadmap for science and technology for the realization of SDGs, and propose mid- and short-term tasks and implementation plans for effective roadmap promotion. Among the key tasks in each field, four common elements were derived: ICT/smartization, a global problem-solving center, cooperation/communication platform, and business model/startup support platform/living lab that can create and integrate roadmap implementation conditions. In addition, the four mid- and short-term tasks, 1) Establishment of science and technology ODA network, 2) Establishment of living lab business platform linked to start-up support business, 3) Local smartization of recipient countries, and 4) Expand and secure sustainability of global problem-solving centers, were set in relation to the implementation of the detailed roadmap. For the derived mid- and short-term tasks, detailed implementation plans based on the ICTization of global problem-solving centers were presented. The implementation of the mid- and short-term tasks presented in this paper can contribute to the more effective achievement of the science and technology ODA roadmap, and it is expected that Korea's implementation of SDGs will also achieve high performance.

Revolutions Take Time

The 2018 paper titled “Common Patterns in Revolutionary Infrastructures and Data” has been cited frequently, since we compared the current discussions about research data management with the developments of large infrastructures in the past believing, similar to philosophers such as Luciano Floridi, that the creation of an interoperable data domain will also be a revolutionary step. We identified the FAIR principles and the FAIR Digital Objects as nuclei for achieving the necessary convergence without which such new infrastructures will not take up. In this follow-up paper, we are elaborating on some factors that indicate that it will still take much time until breakthroughs will be achieved which is mainly devoted to sociological and political reasons. Therefore, it is important to describe visions such as FDO as self-standing entities, the easy plug-in concept, and the built-in security more explicitly to give a long-range perspective and convince policymakers and decision-makers. We also looked at major funding programs which all follow different approaches and do not define a converging core yet. This can be seen as an indication that these funding programs have huge potentials and increase awareness about data management aspects, but that we are far from converging agreements which we finally will need to create a globally integrated data space in the future. Finally, we discuss the roles of some major stakeholders who are all relevant in the process of agreement finding. Most of them are bound by short-term project cycles and funding constraints, not giving them sufficient space to work on long-term convergence concepts and take risks. The great opportunity to get funds for projects improving approaches and technology with the inherent danger of promising too much and the need for continuous reporting and producing visible results after comparably short periods is like a vicious cycle without a possibility to break out. We can recall that coming to the Internet with TCP/IP as a convergence standard was dependent on years of DARPA funding. Building large revolutionary infrastructures seems to be dependent on decision-makers that dare to think strategically and test out promising concepts at a larger scale.

Recognising and Resisting Injustice: Knowledge Practices and Politics Amongst Nepal’s Community Forestry Professionals

The future of inclusive forestry in Nepal depends on forestry professionals who can recognise patriarchal roots of gender injustice as they operate in the ideologies and apparatus of forest governance, and who can resist those injustices through their work. This paper uses the notion of knowledge practices to explore the recognition of injustice amongst Nepal’s community forestry professionals, and the relationship between recognition and resistance, highlighting the inherently political nature of all knowledge practices. By drawing on over fifty interviews and ethnographic insights, this paper goes beyond the typically black-boxed and essentialised ‘forestry professional’ and unsettles the false dichotomy between ‘the professional’ and ‘the personal’. Nepal’s community forestry professionals represent a plurality of knowledges, emerging from unique positionalities and personal experiences; however, the demand for quantifiable, short-term project outputs (attributed to funders and donors) shuts down their opportunities to meaningfully practice their knowledges. This paper articulates how, in order to resist injustices within both forest user communities and forestry institutions, professionals are demanding a greater focus on learning—from the lived realities of forest users, from each other as practitioners, from qualitative engagements with complexity and processes of change, from so-called mistakes, and ultimately from greater reflexivity. Through such learning and reflection comes the opportunity to recognise and resist injustices and create socially just community forestry. This paper urges scholars to go beyond black-boxing those in the forestry sector, and instead to offer solidarity and support in promoting knowledge practices that recognise and resist injustices and thus help build socially just forest futures.

E-REDES DIGITAL ROADMAP TO FOSTER DIGITAL CUSTOMERS' EXPERIENCE AND DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION

In the energy sector the DSO plays a crucial role in driving the energy transition by enabling the digital transformation. This can be seen from the evolution of the traditional grid to the smart grid which showcases the important work by creating an infrastructure that is ready for the development and integration of new services. These developments are better aligned with the expectations and behaviours of a more sustainable, connected, engaged and sophisticated stakeholders. To create new products able to “disrupt” the conventional relationship with Customers and provide them value-added services in a simple and cost-effective way, E-REDES is implementing several digital minimum Viable Products (mVPs). These short term projects guarantee the product's security and integration in the overall applicational architecture of the E-REDES ecosystem, essential for the products go-live. With tried and tested mVPs the solutions can then be scaled up as necessary. This paper presents the digital mVPs roadmap for E-REDES pertaining to the topic of Customer interaction, as well as the operational and Customer engagement impact that each functionality brings forth.

Проектно-исследовательское обучение как технология развития методологической культуры магистрантов

In accordance with the requirements of the Federal State Educational Standard of Higher Education ++, the graduates of the master’s programme on “Teacher education” must be ready to solve research problems in their professional field. This implies that the students develop an appropriate methodological culture through their involvement in independent project and research activities. However, the analysis of the current state of practice in training master students in the field of education demonstrates that it is still dominated by teaching technologies that focus on performing and reproduction activities of students, contributing to developing the habit of receiving ready-to-use knowledge. As a result, the contradiction between the objective need for the formation of a methodological culture among students on the one hand, and inadequate development in many students in the field of “Teacher education”, on the other, is aggravated. The research aim was to show and substantiate the didactic conditions for project- and researchbased learning as a technology aimed at the efficient development of master students’ methodological culture. Research methods were theoretical (analysis, synthesis, comparison, generalization and etc.), empirical (educational experiment, testing in order to assess the level of research competence formation), and mathematical methods of data processing. Results: The process of master students' methodological culture development is based on a search for information and implementation of didactic activities and conditions that serve as a motivation tool for students to be a part of research activities. The course on “Methodology and methods of educational research” becomes a platform for methodological culture development among master students on the “Teacher education” programme. The efficiency of students’ methodological culture development is increased if: (a) the structure and content of their methodological culture are designed on the basis of convergence of conventional and research-based approaches and (b) the project-and research-based teaching technology is implemented through a short-term (limited by the course duration) projects and a number of variable components (a combination of individual and team forms of independent activities),“inverted” or “blended” learning techniques; interdisciplinary, problematic and interactive training; reflection at the end of each class; exams in the form of a project defense, etc.). Impact: The results will be useful for development of educational and methodological support for research-oriented teaching in the process of theoretical and practical training of future bachelors, masters, graduate students, as well as in the system of additional and vocational education.

Shared leadership and team creativity: a team level mixed-methods study

PurposeThis paper aims to conduct two studies to investigate shared leadership and team creativity (TC) in leaderless short-term project teams (STPTs).Design/methodology/approachTo answer the research question, this paper used a multi-level mixed-methods design. This paper analyzed video recordings, transcripts of STPTs’ collaboration and self-report surveys from an international engineering competition. In Study 1, this paper attempted to connect relation-oriented shared leadership (ROSL) and task-oriented shared leadership (TOSL) with TC by coding video recordings. In Study 2, this paper further investigated the proposed positive relationship between shared leadership and TC by surveying a sample of 166 students in 51 teams.FindingsIn Study 1, this paper found that shared leadership covaries with TC following a similar behavioral pattern. In Study 2, multi-level structural equation modeling results suggested that both TOSL and ROSL are positively correlated with TC.Originality/valueIn this mixed-methods multi-level research, this paper found that when the team’s shared leadership increases, their TC activity becomes frequent. This paper confirmed the qualitative finding by quantitatively investigated the relationship between shared leadership and creativity at the team level.

Support for food innovation

Support for food innovation

Learning from Community-Based Natural Resource Management (CBNRM) in Ghana and Zambia: lessons for integrated landscape approaches

Land use in much of sub-Saharan Africa is dominated by legislative frameworks based on a strong colonial legacy, focusing strongly on state control and minimal devolution of management responsibilities to local communities. However, attempts to reconcile conservation and socio-economic development by increasing stakeholder engagement in community-based natural resource management (CBNRM) have been undertaken since the late 1980s. Based on a review of published literature on historical land-use trajectories, the evolution of CBNRM, and key respondent interviews with NRM experts in Ghana and Zambia, this paper asks: What lessons can be learned from CBNRM to inform integrated landscape approaches for more equitable social and ecological outcomes? The paper discusses the positive characteristics and persistent challenges arising from CBNRM initiatives in both countries. The former being, improved rights and resource access, an established institutional structure at the local level, and a conservation approach tailored to the local context. The latter include the absence of multi-scale collaboration, inadequate inclusive and equitable local participation, and limited sustainability of CBNRM initiatives beyond short-term project funding timelines. The paper argues that integrated landscape approaches can address these challenges and improve natural resource management in Ghana and Zambia. We urge landscape practitioners to consider how the lessons learned from CBNRM are being addressed in practice, as they represent both challenges and opportunities for landscape approaches to improve natural resource management.

Checking up to keep on track: An Aboriginal-led approach to monitoring well-being

This article reports the process of identifying a well-being monitoring and evaluation approach for a community development programme with Aboriginal Native Title Holders in Northern Australia. The process involved the use of an empowerment-based Aboriginal Family Well-Being framework to enable Native Title Holders to articulate domains of value to their local community. These domains aligned with an existing culturally sensitive Aboriginal well-being survey tool which the Native Title Holders saw as relevant for their use. The attempts to provide Aboriginal people with a broader and more long-term perspective from which to judge the value of short-term projects is a different approach to traditional programme assessment (monitoring and evaluation). It aims to provide Aboriginal people with a more relevant frame from which they can make judgements about the worth of any programme or project in their location, supporting local control and decision-making. Potentially it provides Aboriginal people with the information from which to advocate for other supports and to assess the value of Government and other projects.