Various Types Of Projects Research Articles

COSTS OF GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS ABATEMENT UNDER THE CLEAN DEVELOPMENT MECHANISM

This paper examines the costs of emissions abatement through various types of projects financed under the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) of the Kyoto Protocol. Using project data, cost functions are estimated applying alternative functional forms. Results show that the average cost of abatement decreases with the volume of abatement, showing economies of scale and suggesting that reducing emissions through small projects is relatively expensive. Results also show significant variation in the costs of abatement by project type and location. Nevertheless, the observed distribution of project investments does not closely match the relative cost structure, either by location or project type. Renewable energy projects accounted for 62% of the projects even though they had the second highest cost. Most of the CDM projects are located in emerging economies, principally China, India, and Brazil, even though the fixed costs of establishing CDM projects in these countries are higher than in many other developing countries. Significantly, while much of the conceptual and applied numerical literature concerning greenhouse gas abatement policies relies on presumptions about the structure of abatement cost curves, these findings suggest that comparative advantage is only one of several factors driving CDM investments and that investors hold additional preferences about project location and project type. Finally, results indicate a general, though noncontinuous, downward trend in the costs of abatement for new CDM projects.

Performance Monitoring Using EVM Indicator: A Study Case of Construction Projects in the Public Sector in Brazil

The control of performance through indicators is a very important management tool for companies. The EVM (earned value management) indicator has been used as a management tool in various types of projects. It has been widely used in construction engineering; however, some authors have identified differences in its use between theory and practice. The main objective of this paper is to compare the practice in the market to the theory of EVM in civil construction projects in the public sector in Brazil. A study case was conducted of three construction projects in the public sector. The results of the survey were analysed on the basis of a qualitative approach which indicated differences concerning the theory and practice of EVM. With the aim of verifying these differences, the applicability of the model was analysed from the point of view of relevance and adequacy. Later, a detailed study from the perspective of the training and practices of project management was conducted in the contracting companies.

A multivariate statistical framework for the analysis of software effort phase distribution

ContextIn software project management, the distribution of resources to various project activities is one of the most challenging problems since it affects team productivity, product quality and project constraints related to budget and scheduling. ObjectiveThe study aims to (a) reveal the high complexity of modelling the effort usage proportion in different phases as well as the divergence from various rules-of-thumb in related literature, and (b) present a systematic data analysis framework, able to offer better interpretations and visualisation of the effort distributed in specific phases. MethodThe basis for the proposed multivariate statistical framework is Compositional Data Analysis, a methodology appropriate for proportions, along with other methods like the deviation from rules-of-thumb, the cluster analysis and the analysis of variance. The effort allocations to phases, as reported in around 1500 software projects of the ISBSG R11 repository, were transformed to vectors of proportions of the total effort and were analysed with respect to prime project attributes. ResultsThe proposed statistical framework was able to detect high dispersion among data, distribution inequality and various interesting correlations and trends, groupings and outliers, especially with respect to other categorical and continuous project attributes. Only a very small number of projects were found close to the rules-of-thumb from the related literature. Significant differences in the proportion of effort spent in different phrases for different types of projects were found. ConclusionThere is no simple model for the effort allocated to phases of software projects. The data from previous projects can provide valuable information regarding the distribution of the effort for various types of projects, through analysis with multivariate statistical methodologies. The proposed statistical framework is generic and can be easily applied in a similar sense to any dataset containing effort allocation to phases.

Costs of certified emission reductions under the Clean Development Mechanism of the Kyoto Protocol

This paper examines the cost structure of certified emission reductions (CERs) through various types of projects under the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) of the Kyoto Protocol. Using the CDM project data, the costs of CERs and their variation across technology and over time and space are estimated by applying alternative functional forms and specifications. Results show that the average cost of CERs decreases with the project scale and duration, scale and duration effects significantly vary across project types, and there is an upward trend in costs. The results also show that the distribution of the projects in the CDM portfolio or a given location does not strictly follow the relative cost structure, nor does the distribution of the CDM projects in different host countries follow the principle of comparative advantage. More than 84% of the CDM portfolio consists of various energy projects with substantially higher costs of CERs than afforestation and reforestation, industrial and landfill gas reduction, and methane avoidance projects, which are only 12% of all projects. While per unit cost of abatement plays an important role in the bottom-up and top-down models to evaluate emission reduction potential and analyze policy alternatives, the findings contradict the presumption of such models that project investors seek out low-cost opportunities. At the aggregate level, the cost of CER by the projects in Asia and Europe is similar but higher than those hosted in Africa, Americas, and Oceania. Yet more than 83% of the projects in the CDM portfolio are located in Asia; more than 69% of the projects are in China and India alone. China appears to have a comparative advantage (i.e., lowest opportunity cost) in energy efficiency projects, while India has a comparative advantage in hydro power projects and Brazil has a comparative advantage in wind power projects. In contrast, energy efficiency category accounts for only 8% of the CDM projects in China, hydro power accounts for 12% of the projects in India, and wind power accounts for 18% of the projects in Brazil. The results provide a basis for evaluating the incentives that the mechanism offers as a cost effective policy instrument that balances greenhouse gas mitigation across sectors and regions, while fulfilling the objective of the convention.

업무 효율 향상을 위한 사업관리정보시스템

For successful projects, Project Management Information System(PMIS) using the formal systematic processes is necessary. Because the existing PMIS focuses on low-level project management, the life-cycle administration of the projects is required. In this dissertation, I describe not only the processes for managing a project with the top-down approach(a hierarchical goal setting of the project outcome), but also PMIS which can control whole processes of R&D projects. The PMIS described in this dissertation can reduce the workload of project management by providing user-adaptive environments and linking with related systems, so can be helpful to enhance the efficiency of the project management. And, it is expected that these processes can be the standard project management processes which are adaptive to various types of projects.

ANÁLISE DE MODELOS E PRÁTICAS DE MEDIÇÃO DE DESEMPENHO DE VALOR AGREGADO: O CASO DE GESTÃO DE PROJETOS DE OBRAS CIVIS PÚBLICAS NO BRASIL

The control of performance through indicators is a very important management tool for companies .The EVM (Earned Value Management) indicator has been used as a management tool in various types of projects. The main objective of this paper is to compare the practice in the market to the theory of EVM in civil public construction projects in Brazil. The objective of this article is to confront the theoretical basis for the indicator value with market practice. The research was characterized as applied or technological, literature review and field research on 03 in civil public construction projects were carried out. In these projects, the EVM indicator was used for performance monitoring. The comparison between the theory and practice of market on EVM was performed and differences were found in the process of obtaining EVM. Differences were found primarily in the process of implementing EVM. The final conclusion points out the deficiency in mature companies in project management.

Shifting conditions, frameworks and approaches: The work of KPDV in postcolonial Africa

This paper discusses the trajectory and production of the French architecture firm Kalt—Pouradier-Duteil—Vignal. This firm was very prolific in Africa from the late colonial period right up to the 1980s, the author argues, because of its flexibility towards the constantly changing political, economic and socio-cultural context in which it operated. It was first active in the colonial context of mise-en-valeur du territoire, refashioned itself in the post-independence era to become a major consultant to the European Union’s development aid agency and ultimately realised various types of projects throughout West Africa for a wide range of clients, both African and foreign. While throughout this period, commissions for foreign architects in Africa were generally tied to a particular company, international (aid) organisation or (colonial) state agency—which meant that work opportunities ceased if the institutional framework disintegrated—KPDV managed to stay on the African scene for almost thirty years. By discussing a select number of projects designed by KPDV, the author will show that the office accomplished this by constantly reformulating its modes of design, research, building practices and project management in response to the quickly changing context in which it operated.

Shifting conditions, frameworks and approaches: The work of KPDV in postcolonial Africa

This paper discusses the trajectory and production of the French architecture firm Kalt—Pouradier-Duteil—Vignal. This firm was very prolific in Africa from the late colonial period right up to the 1980s, the author argues, because of its flexibility towards the constantly changing political, economic and socio-cultural context in which it operated. It was first active in the colonial context of mise-en-valeur du territoire, refashioned itself in the post-independence era to become a major consultant to the European Union’s development aid agency and ultimately realised various types of projects throughout West Africa for a wide range of clients, both African and foreign. While throughout this period, commissions for foreign architects in Africa were generally tied to a particular company, international (aid) organisation or (colonial) state agency—which meant that work opportunities ceased if the institutional framework disintegrated—KPDV managed to stay on the African scene for almost thirty years. By discussing a select number of projects designed by KPDV, the author will show that the office accomplished this by constantly reformulating its modes of design, research, building practices and project management in response to the quickly changing context in which it operated.

Shifting conditions, frameworks and approaches: The work of KPDV in postcolonial Africa

This paper discusses the trajectory and production of the French architecture firm Kalt—Pouradier-Duteil—Vignal. This firm was very prolific in Africa from the late colonial period right up to the 1980s, the author argues, because of its flexibility towards the constantly changing political, economic and socio-cultural context in which it operated. It was first active in the colonial context of mise-en-valeur du territoire, refashioned itself in the post-independence era to become a major consultant to the European Union’s development aid agency and ultimately realised various types of projects throughout West Africa for a wide range of clients, both African and foreign. While throughout this period, commissions for foreign architects in Africa were generally tied to a particular company, international (aid) organisation or (colonial) state agency—which meant that work opportunities ceased if the institutional framework disintegrated—KPDV managed to stay on the African scene for almost thirty years. By discussing a select number of projects designed by KPDV, the author will show that the office accomplished this by constantly reformulating its modes of design, research, building practices and project management in response to the quickly changing context in which it operated.

Implementations of a Flexible Framework for Managing Geologic Sequestration Modeling Projects

Numerical simulation is a standard practice used to support designing, operating, and monitoring CO2 injection projects. Although a variety of computational tools have been developed that support the numerical simulation process, many are single-purpose or platform specific and have a prescribed workflow that may or may not be suitable for a particular project. We are developing an open-source, flexible framework named Velo that provides a knowledge management infrastructure and tools to support modeling and simulation for various types of projects in a number of scientific domains. The Geologic Sequestration Software Suite (GS3) is a version of this framework with features and tools specifically tailored for geologic sequestration studies. Because of its general nature, GS3 is being employed in a variety of ways on projects with differing goals. GS3 is being used to support the Sim-SEQ international model comparison study, by providing a collaborative framework for the modeling teams and providing tools for model comparison. Another customized deployment of GS3 has been made to support the Class VI Well geologic sequestration permit application process. In this case, GS3 is being used to manage data in support of conceptual model development and provide documentation and provenance for numerical simulations. An additional customized deployment of GS3 is being created for use by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) Underground Injection Control (UIC) Program to aid in the Class VI Well geologic sequestration permit application review process. These use cases demonstrate GS3's flexibility. utility, and broad applicability.

Shifting conditions, frameworks and approaches: The work of KPDV in postcolonial Africa

This paper discusses the trajectory and production of the French architecture firm Kalt—Pouradier-Duteil—Vignal. This firm was very prolific in Africa from the late colonial period right up to the 1980s, the author argues, because of its flexibility towards the constantly changing political, economic and socio-cultural context in which it operated. It was first active in the colonial context of mise-en-valeur du territoire, refashioned itself in the post-independence era to become a major consultant to the European Union’s development aid agency and ultimately realised various types of projects throughout West Africa for a wide range of clients, both African and foreign. While throughout this period, commissions for foreign architects in Africa were generally tied to a particular company, international (aid) organisation or (colonial) state agency—which meant that work opportunities ceased if the institutional framework disintegrated—KPDV managed to stay on the African scene for almost thirty years. By discussing a select number of projects designed by KPDV, the author will show that the office accomplished this by constantly reformulating its modes of design, research, building practices and project management in response to the quickly changing context in which it operated.

Factors influencing the success of PPP at feasibility stage – A tripartite comparison study in Hong Kong

Public Private Partnerships (PPP) have been used extensively in both developing and developed countries in delivering various types of projects, ranging from road construction, railway transport systems to health care facilities and schools. Critical success factors of PPP schemes at the implementation stage were identified. It is however more important for decision-makers to identify the factors for feasibility evaluation of adopting the PPP at the outset. This study aims to explore the key successful ingredients to be assessed at the initial stage of PPP projects as perceived public sector, private consortium and general community so as to attain a “triple win” scenario, via a questionnaire survey and a series of expert interviews conducted in Hong Kong. Survey results indicate that the most critical factor for evaluating the feasibility of PPP projects, especially to the general community, is an acceptable level of tariff. Cost effectiveness and financial attractiveness are the most important evaluation factors as ranked by the public sector and private consortium respectively. In addition, the existence of a long-term demand for the proposed services, availability of strong private consortium, alignment with government’s strategic objectives, as well as reliable service delivery are also rated as highly important to the success of PPP schemes. Addressing the tripartite expectations is indispensable to ensure the feasibility and successful delivery of public services and infrastructure projects via PPP schemes.

Enhancing e‐learning quality through the application of the AKUE procedure model

AbstractThe paper describes the procedure model AKUE, which aims at the improvement and assurance of quality and cost efficiency in the context of the introduction of e‐learning and the development of digital learning material. AKUE divides the whole planning and implementation process into four different phases: analysis, conception, implementation, and evaluation. AKUE analyses at which level of the organization or curriculum decisions have to be made. Accordingly, it differentiates various types of projects for which different planning methods and quality criteria are applied. For each step, specific worksheets and procedures are applied in order to support planning and decision making. Through the definition of outcomes and feedback loops at each step, quality standards and cost efficiency can be achieved.

Current and future acoustics credits in the leadership in energy and environmental design rating system.

The next version of LEED, currently in development, includes a new acoustics credit that is directed toward acoustical performance for all types of new construction projects. The credit includes performance requirements for background noise, speech privacy, sound isolation, sound reinforcement, and sound masking systems. As an acoustical performance credit for all types of new construction, the credit allows flexibility to address a wide range of performance criteria for various types of projects. This paper, coauthored by the acoustics working group within the U.S. Green Building Council, will present the intent, provisions, and background on the development of the new credit. A review of existing acoustics credits in LEED and approaches for compliance with existing credits will also be discussed.

Factors Relating to Labor Productivity Affecting the Project Schedule Performance in Indonesia

Construction industry faces challenges with regard to problems associated with productivity and the problems are usually associated with performance of labor. The performance of labor is affected by many factors and is usually linked to the performance of time, cost, and quality. Meanwhile identification and evaluating factors affecting construction labor productivity have been done in the last decade; however, a deeper understanding is still needed to improve the labor productivity. This study conducted with the aim to get the latest information on key factors that affect project performance in terms of project completion time and this is part of major research to model the interaction relationships between key factors affecting productivity. This paper reports on a survey made on respondents who involve in managing various types of projects in wide area in Indonesia. Respondents were required to rate using their experience how 113 factors identified from past researches, which grouped into 15 groups, affecting project schedule performance and then measured their level of affect. The result show that the groups of factors that give high effect are: supervision factors, material factors, execution plan factors, and design factors. In addition to these factors, for large companies equipment factors have also high effect. While in small and medium companies, owner/consultant factors also need special attention because it has high effect too. Research findings also show that health and safety factors has not been a concern of small and medium companies and only has some effect, while in large companies are better, although not as major concern and has average effect. The results will become worthwhile information in determining the major steps to improve the performance of project completion time and also as part of further research in modeling the interaction relationship between the key factors affecting productivity to improve the labor productivity in Indonesian construction industry.

중소기업의 정부지원 정보화정책 성과평가 시점 연구

정부는 중소기업의 정보화를 촉진시키기 위하여 지난 수년간 여러 종류의 정책자금을 지원하였다. 정부가 지원하는 정보화 지원 자금의 성격은 대부분 무상 지원으로 중소기업에게는 좋은 기회가 되어 왔다. 또한 정부는 지원하는 정책의 결과에 대한 성과도 관리하고자 노력하고 있다. 본 연구는 정부가 그동안 지원한 정보화정책에 대한 평가를 어떠한 단계로 하는 것이 타당한지 실증적 연구를 하였다. 실증 연구는 상관분석을 실시하였으며 측정에 활용한 요인간의 상관관계 결과는 유의한 것으로 나타났다. 정보화지원 정책을 통한 성과평가 시점에 대한 결과는 조직전략 분야의 평가가 Step3(장기적), 내부 운영 분야의 평가는 Step2(중기적), 지원과정의 평가는 Step1(단기적)의 평가단계로 나타났다. The government has funded various types of projects to promote small and medium companies' computerization for several years. Most of these government-supported funds have been free and given small and medium firms good opportunities. The government has made various effects to manage results of these government-supported projects. We have not seen any noticeable research on the performance evaluation of government-supported projects for small and medium companies' computerization. This research proposes an approach that performance evaluations are made in different time based on evaluation area of government-supported information policy. The empirical study has been made by correlation analysis and has shown that the correlations among measurement factors are significant enough. The performance evaluation for government-supported information policy has been made differently in time depending on evaluation subjects such as organizational strategies, internal operations, supporting processes. Th experimental study shows that performance evaluations on organizational strategies, internal operations, supporting processes should be made respectively in long term(step3), mid term(step2), and short term(step1).

Reducing defect generations in e-learning business: a Six Sigma approach

The process of learning, with significant technological development, has stepped forward towards e-learning not only for educational institutions but also for government and corporate businesses. The respective product development process of e-learning business often faces challenges in defect-free phases of the project life cycle across various types of projects. Higher the defect rate, higher is the reworking cost and lower is the productivity and customer dissatisfaction. This study attempts a disciplined, data-driven analytical Six-Sigma approach under DMAIC philosophy to reducing variation in one of such e-learning business processes, identifying controllable parameters for defect generation and taking necessary preventive actions. After taking actions on the critical activities, number of defects being generated and accordingly the amount of rework and efforts (man-months) consumed have been reduced satisfactorily. The statistical results show an improvement in the Pearson process capability index (Cpk) from 0.11 to 1.53.

Examining the conditions of ERP implementations: lessons learnt from adopters

PurposeThis paper sets out to examine the conditions of enterprise resource planning (ERP) implementations on the basis of research conducted among practitioners dealing with ERP projects.Design/methodology/approachThis paper builds on the research conducted among a few dozen practitioners dealing with ERP projects. The queried respondents include both ERP adopters and experts representing system suppliers. The study discusses how the researched projects were linked with enterprise strategy, how their efficiency was measured and to what extent they defined implementation goals. The analysis takes into consideration various types of projects and success levels achieved.FindingsThe results show that adopters experience different conditions depending on the project type. The findings suggest that practitioners should be more focused on the business benefits. The outcome shows that implementers from very complicated projects are more aware of the overwhelming challenge at large, while, on the other hand, the relatively simpler projects seem to be underestimated.Research limitations/implicationsThis study suggests that ERP researchers should take into account the particular type of project being studied. Further research can develop a methodology by which implementation projects can be evaluated. This methodology could cover a broader range of conditions.Practical implicationsIllustrating the conditions of real ERP projects, this study gives insight into the actual problems experienced by the ERP adopters. Drawing on these results, the practitioners may better anticipate possible problems and assess potential threats in their projects.Originality/valueThis paper investigates the conditions that surround the different projects and how they relate to successful performance. These findings will then in turn shed light on the mechanisms that determine the results of ERP.

Testing the usability of the Rapid Impact Assessment Matrix (RIAM) method for comparison of EIA and SEA results

This study examines how the results of Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) could be compared using the Rapid Impact Assessment Matrix (RIAM) method. There are many tools and techniques that have been developed for use in impact assessment processes, including scoping, checklists, matrices, qualitative and quantitative models, literature reviews, and decision-support systems. While impact assessment processes have become more technically complicated, it is recognized that approaches including simpler applications of available tools and techniques are also appropriate. The Rapid Impact Assessment Matrix (RIAM) is a tool for organizing, analysing and presenting the results of a holistic EIA. RIAM was originally developed to compare the impact of alternative procedures in a single project. In this study, we used RIAM to compare the environmental and social impact of different projects, plans and programs realized within the same geographical area. RIAM scoring is based on five separate criteria. The RIAM criteria were applied to the impact that was considered to be the most significant in the evaluated cases, and scores were given both on environmental and social impact. Our results revealed that the RIAM method could be used for comparison and ranking of separate and distinct projects, plans, programs and policies, based on their negative or positive impact. Our data included 142 cases from the area of Central Finland that is covered by the Regional Council of Central Finland. This sample consisted of various types of projects, ranging from road construction to education programs that applied for EU funding.

Refining the search for project success factors: a multivariate, typological approach

Although the causes for project success and failure have been the subject of many studies, no conclusive evidence or common agreement has been achieved so far. One criticism involves the universalistic approach used often in project management studies, according to which all projects are assumed to be similar. A second problem is the issue of subjectiveness, and sometimes weakly defined success measures; yet another concern is the limited number of managerial variables examined by previous research. In the present study we use a project‐specific typological approach, a multidimensional criteria for assessing project success, and a multivariate statistical analysis method. According to our typology projects were classified according to their technological uncertainty at project initiation and their system scope which is their location on a hierarchical ladder of systems and subsystems. For each of the 127 projects in our study that were executed in Israel, we recorded 360 managerial variables and 13 success measures. The use of a very detailed data and multivariate methods such as canonical correlation and eigenvector analysis enables us to account for all the interactions between managerial and success variables and to address a handful of perspectives, often left unanalyzed by previous research. Assessing the variants of managerial variables and their impact on project success for various types of projects, serves also a step toward the establishment of a typological theory of projects. Although some success factors are common to all projects, our study identified project‐specific lists of factors, indicating for example, that high‐uncertainty projects must be managed differently than low‐uncertainty projects, and high‐scope projects differently than low‐scope projects.