The focus of this thesis is to investigate the roles of leaders, managers, and mutual roles in aligning strategy and project management (ASPM) in public sector organisations (PSOs) in developing countries (DCs). ASPM as a phenomenon has emerged to support organisations to improve the performance of their projects and fulfil their strategic objectives. In reviewing the normative literature in this area, it is evident that a limited number of studies have been conducted on ASPM, particularly studies related to PSOs in DCs, where the statistics reflect a higher percentage of failed and/or delayed projects. To the best of this author's knowledge, and having conducted a thorough review of the literature, it is believed that none of the existing research studies conducted on ASPM have explored the roles of leaders, managers, and mutual roles in ASPM in PSOs. Thus, the author asserts that it is of high importance to investigate this area within ASPM and to prepare a study that contributes by shedding light on the roles of leaders, managers, and common roles between them in ASPM in PSOs in DCs. This thesis contributes to the body of knowledge related to strategic alignment and management, project management, the public sector and leadership/management as it investigates the roles of leaders, managers, and mutual roles in ASPM in PSOs in DCs. Furthermore, this thesis presents the factors that influence leaders and managers as they carry out their individual as well as mutual roles. The proposed conceptual framework is developed and presented in Chapter 3. From a practical perspective, this thesis contributes by providing the decision makers with a tool that has been tested through multiple units in KSA government case, which may support them in improving the performance of their projects and bring benefits to organisations. In addition to that, in Chapter 5 this thesis presents some lessons learned from the pilot unit study. The author assumes that such the conceptual framework and the factors influencing the roles of managers and leaders and the mutual roles in ASPM are significant and novel and may help to improve project performance, highlighting the importance of strategy management, and ultimately improving the performance in PSOs. The author uses qualitative, interpretive, multiple unit studies research strategy to validate the proposed conceptual framework. The author found from the pilot unit study and other four units study results, present that this kind of approach contributes to more strong decisions for ASPM implementation and highlight that it is acceptable by the unit studies. In spite of the fact that these results cannot be generalised, they can allow others researcher's to link their views with the ones reported in this thesis. This thesis proposes tests and presents a novel framework for ASPM and contributes to the body of knowledge by enriching the literature. The findings from the five units study organisations reveal that the proposed framework is acceptable and clearly indicate the significance of ASPM in PSOs.

Project portfolio management (PPM) is considered a central part for achieving intended strategies for organisations. However, only a percentage of strategies are actually realised, and whilst much previous research has focused on the formulation of strategies, less has been directed towards the realisation. To gain further understanding of how PPM can contribute to realising strategies, this thesis studied the PPM activities of selecting projects and allocating resources, and related challenges when trying to achieve a strategically aligned project portfolio in a matrix organisation. A qualitative case study was performed at a pharmaceutical production company in Stockholm referred to as Medex. An abductive research approach was used, and the data was thematically analysed whilst striving to achieve triangulation. The study was divided into a pre-study and a main study consisting of a total of 15 semi-structured interviews with participants at different positions within the organisation, in parallel to the collection of secondary data from Medex’s intranet.    The study indicate that it is a challenge for a matrix organisation to align projects to strategy through project objectives, and that it is rather project values’ strong connection to strategy that provide a clear link between projects and strategy. It further suggests that using project value for linking projects to strategy can increase the understanding of the motivation of project priorities, as well as creating a foundation for determining if the allocation of resources is oriented towards strategy. Furthermore, the study demonstrates the challenge and necessity for top management to base their decisions on sufficient and reliable information. Moreover, the selection of projects must be performed in accordance with available resource capacity, which highlights the need for strong connections between short-, medium- and long-term resource allocation. Furthermore, the study emphasises the need for a structured way of evaluating PPM processes to improve and address associated challenges. Additionally, the high competition between resources in a matrix organisation is depicted and the study indicates that a strong focus on profits can limit the possibility of achieving a strategically aligned project portfolio. While the study is based on a single case, the findings can be regarded as transferable, at varying extents, to other companies of similar size and organisational structure as well.

Submitted by Silvana Teresinha Dornelles Studzinski (sstudzinski) on 2015-06-30T17:32:27Z No. of bitstreams: 1 DanielFonsecadaLuz.pdf: 1718642 bytes, checksum: b30ead459da9c1ae913f5c623a144489 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2015-06-30T17:32:27Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 DanielFonsecadaLuz.pdf: 1718642 bytes, checksum: b30ead459da9c1ae913f5c623a144489 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2011-12-19 / Metalúrdica THF Indústria e Comercio Ltda. / O presente trabalho, focado na indústria automotiva e calcado em literaturas acadêmicas, se propõe a revisitar conceitos e modelos de sistemas produtivos sob o ponto de vista dos sistemas corporativos de produção. Neste trabalho, o sistema corporativo de produção da General Motors, o GMS – Global Manufacturing System, foi analisado através da metodologia de estudo de caso, onde foram estudados aspectos de sua construção e implementação. Dimensões como: custo, qualidade, flexibilidade, velocidade e confiabilidade de entrega, serviço ao cliente, inovatividade e segurança nas operações foram avaliadas pelos gestores da General Motors do Brasil, planta de Gravataí-RS. Entre as dimensões acima citadas os respondentes foram instigados a escolher cinco entre as mais contributivas para o GMS e aquelas que de alguma forma representavam ser ganhadoras ou qualificadoras de pedidos. A partir da escolha das dimensões mais relevantes, se avaliou o quanto os 33 elementos que constituem o GMS contribuem para a produção da empresa em cada dimensão competitiva e se estes de alguma forma representavam trade-offs para o sistema. Esses elementos foram esmiuçados em seu uso, inconsistências e implantação no ambiente fabril avaliado. Considera-se que o estudo apresentado aproxima as abordagens operacionais com os delineamentos acadêmicos, evitando a implementação de iniciativas ineficientes e inconsistentes com os macro objetivos dos sistemas corporativos de produção. / This work focused on the automotive industry and underpinned in academic literature, proposes to revisit concepts and models of production systems from the point of view of corporate production systems. In this work, the corporate production system of General Motors, the GMS - Global Manufacturing System, was analyzed using the methodology of case study, which studied aspects of its construction and implementation. Dimensions such: cost, quality, flexibility, speed and reliability of delivery, customer service, innovativeness and security operations were evaluated by the managers of General Motors Brazil, plant Gravataí-RS. Among the dimensions mentioned above respondents were encouraged to choose five of the most contributory to the GMS and those who somehow be represented winning or qualifying order. From the choice of the most relevant dimensions, assessed how the 33 elements that constitute the GMS contribute to the production of the company competitive in every dimension and if they somehow represent trade-offs for the system. These elements were scattered in their use, and implementation inconsistencies in manufacturing environment assessed. It is considered that the presented study approximates the operational approaches to the academic designs, avoiding the implementation of initiatives ineffective and inconsistent with the macro objectives of corporate production systems.

Enterprise Architecture is so far the highest development step in IT's architectural description of enterprises. At the beginning, just technological architecture existed. However, with the quickly growing complexity of IT other domains occurred, that had to be described. Information or application architectures can serve as examples. IT then realized, that it needed to add to its IT architectures a business view and consequently the discipline Enterprise Architecture came into being. Strategic management is crucial for the development of each enterprise. The thesis focuses on the strategic management of business and the strategic management of IT. The strategic management of business consists of a business strategy and an operating model. To the strategic management of IT then belongs an information strategy and IT governance. Business-IT alignment further explores and ensures the accord between the strategic management of business and the strategic management of IT. The aim of the thesis is to describe the relationship of Enterprise Architecture and the different forms of strategic management and to express to which rate Enterprise Architecture supports them. The explored relationships are: - The relationship of Enterprise Architecture and business strategy - The relationship of Enterprise Architecture and operating models - The relationship of Enterprise Architecture and information strategy - The relationship of Enterprise Architecture and IT governance - The relationship of Enterprise Architecture and business-IT alignment The goals of the thesis are reached via theoretical research and subsequent deduction. The author's personal asset consists of creating a hierarchical model of Enterprise Architecture, of defining Enterprise Architecture's reaction to business strategies, of modifying the methodology MMDIS in respect of information strategy, of depicting, how Enterprise Architecture can be used in IT governance, of illustrating, where Enterprise Architecture contributes to business-IT alignment and of assessing, to which rate Enterprise Architecture supports the different forms of strategic management.