This study originally emanated from the debate on value creation through projects, which has become more prevalent in project management literature in recent times. Earned value analysis, which is widely used to measure and report the performance of project value, does not include the occurrence of value leaks in its calculations and reporting. Although there is a scarcity of literature on the issue of value leaks during project deployment, it is considered to be a big issue which can make or break a project’s value success. This lack of research is more pronounced in network expansion projects in the Ghanaian telecommunication industry, however, considering the level of investment by these network operators, and their contribution to economic growth, the occurrence of value leaks can be suspected. Therefore, the overall aim of the study was to develop a diagnostic model that aids in the easy identification of value leaks, so that they can be controlled, and remedied to minimise the forgone unrealised project value. In view of this, the study adopted an exploratory sequential mixed research design. The qualitative phase employed a multiple-case study approach to explore the concept of value leaks and the extent to which it becomes problematic in delivering overall project value. The quantitative phase, through a survey study, adopted factor analysis to test and validate the findings from the case study, and analyses were also performed to test the conceptual model fit to the retained dataset. The findings culminated in the development of the “Value Leaks-Flashlight”, with an add-on called the “Tolerable Nut” to theorise the concept of value leaks. This practical establishment of the value leak concept cemented the development of the value leaks diagnostic model through the application of the “CIIR” acronym, which fulfils the overall aim of the study. The study contributes to the contemporary literature in the field of project management, as the concept of project value leaks is still gaining prominence, and only a few empirical studies have thus far been conducted. The concept of value leaks enlightens the perspective of project management practitioners in their quest to achieve value through projects. / Business Management / D. Phil. (Management Studies)

O grau de competitividade dos produtos, o encurtamento do seu ciclo de vida e o acesso a informação por parte do consumidor, compõem um cenário no qual o desenvolvimento de produtos diferenciados se faz necessário. Entretanto, para que isso ocorra é preciso haver um processo sistematizado e orientado para a inovação, quando da criação de produtos. O Projeto Conceitual constitui uma etapa, dentro do PDP (Processo de Desenvolvimento de Produto), na qual são estabelecidas muitas das decisões que nortearão o desenvolvimento do produto. Portanto, tem-se nesta fase um campo fértil para o planejamento da inovação. Neste contexto, desenvolver abordagens que auxiliem na seleção de alternativas conceituais permite que a inovação possa ser assimilada nas fases iniciais do PDP. A literatura aponta para a existência de métodos que auxiliam o processo de seleção de conceitos. Entre eles, a Ferramenta API_PC (Avaliação do Potencial de Inovação no Projeto Conceitual) apresenta critérios e subcritérios orientados para a seleção de uma concepção com maior potencial inovador na etapa do Projeto Conceitual. Neste contexto, foi identificada a oportunidade de ampliar os critérios/ subcritérios existentes na ferramenta, bem como atribuir novas valorações, de modo a robustecê-la. Desta forma, a presente pesquisa produziu um novo mapeamento dos elementos indutores de inovação a partir de dados obtidos pela revisão de literatura juntamente com uma análise reversa de quatro produtos considerados inovadores (analogamente a da Ferramenta API_PC). Feito isso, novas valorações foram estabelecidas por meio de um instrumento de coleta de dados aplicado a projetistas e estudantes. Na sequência, foi conduzido um experimento, em ambiente controlado, no qual foram avaliadas as alternativas conceituais de um produto presente no mercado. A avaliação foi realizada por sete grupos, compostos por profissionais e estudantes, dos quais quatro utilizaram a ferramenta proposta e três não a utilizaram. A partir de três pressupostos: i) utilização; ii) compreensão; e iii) seleção foi conduzida uma análise comparativa entre os grupos bem como a aplicação de um questionário individual a posteriori. Portanto, foi possível reconhecer a percepção conjunta e individual da tarefa proposta. A expansão da Ferramenta API_PC permitiu o desenvolvimento de um mecanismo robusto que de forma consistente auxilia a equipe de projeto na avaliação e identificação da alternativa conceitual com maior potencial inovador. / The degree of competitiveness of the products, the shortening of their life cycle and the access to information by the consumer, constitute a scenario in which the development of differentiated products becomes necessary. However, for this to happen, there must be a systematized and innovation-oriented process when creating products. The Conceptual Project is a step, within the PDP (Product Development Process), in which many of the decisions that guide the development of the product are established. Therefore, this stage has a fertile field for innovation planning. In this context, developing approaches that help in the selection of conceptual alternatives allows the innovation to be assimilated in the initial phases of the PDP. The literature points to the existence of methods that help the process of concept selection. Among them, the API_PC Tool (Evaluation of Innovation Potential in the Conceptual Project) presents criteria and subcriteria oriented to the selection of a conception with greater innovative potential in the Conceptual Project stage. In this context, the opportunity to expand the criteria / subcriteria in the tool was identified, as well as to attribute new valuations, in order to strengthen it. In this way, the present research sought to conduct a new mapping of the elements inducing innovation from data obtained by the literature review along with a reverse analysis of four products considered innovative (similarly to the API_PC Tool). Once this step was concluded, new assessments of these criteria were established through a data collection instrument applied to designers and students. An experiment was conducted in a controlled environment in which the conceptual alternatives of a product on the market were evaluated. The evaluation was performed by seven groups, composed of professionals and students, of whom four used the proposed tool and three did not use it. Based on three assumptions: i) utilization; ii) understanding; and iii) selection was conducted a comparative analysis between the groups as well as the application of an individual questionnaire “a posteriori”. Therefore, it was possible to recognize the joint and individual perception of the proposed task. The expansion of the API_PC Tool allowed the development of a robust mechanism that consistently assists the project team in the evaluation and identification of the conceptual alternative with greater innovative potential.

From Integrative Summary: This research paper comprises of three sections that include: an evaluation report, a literature review and the research methodology. The first section assesses the management of resistance to change as encountered during the ELIDZ structural re-alignment initiative. The assessment was done after the change initiative had been implemented to see what could be learnt from the exercise, in order to be better prepared for future change programmes. The implemented change was initiated by the CEO of the ELIDZ but its criticality in terms of purpose, or the need for the change was unclear to many employees at the time of initiation. An examination of the literature on change management highlighted the importance of managing resistance to change as part of a change initiative, so as to ensure a successful transition. The review of the literature on management of resistance to change in section 2 of this paper examines the definition of management of resistance to change and in particular, covers key factors like change readiness, participation in change and change communication. These key concepts underpin effective management of resistance during change. The literature on management of resistance to change with respect to the role of change readiness, participation in change and change communication was used to develop a questionnaire that was used to assess the ELIDZ change initiative. The questionnaire was developed in a Likert Scale format with questions across the spectrum of change readiness, change participation and change communication. Section 3 of this paper describes how the quantitative research was provided to the population sample of employees from the ELIDZ where the questions on change readiness, change participation and change communication was used to assess the effectiveness of management of resistance to change during the ELIDZ change initiative. In addition section 3 provides an explanation of how the results of the research were derived. The results on change readiness suggest that the ELIDZ change initiative did not address change readiness adequately. There is therefore a risk of resistance to change that could manifest. This also indicates that change readiness must be planned more thoroughly in future change endeavours. Most of the population sampled did not feel that they participated in the change initiative, suggesting that the ELIDZ did not address participation in the change initiative adequately. Not enabling employees to actively participate in the change is tantamount to decreasing the potential for acceptance of change and increasing the risk of resistance to change. In order to ensure that future change initiatives are not met with employee resistance to change, the ELIDZ should plan for employee participation throughout the change process. The extent to which change communication was addressed in the ELIDZ change initiative was demonstrated by very poor results. The results from the population sampled suggest that the change was not well communicated to employees. As change communication is known to reduce the potential for resistance to change, it is imperative for the ELIDZ to plan for comprehensive communication strategies to cover the change process for future change action.