A presente obra aborda a experiência recente de empresas brasileiras no gerenciamento continuado de ambientes multiprojetos pelo Método da Corrente Crítica, ou CCPM, Critical Chain Path Method, através de um estudo de casos múltiplos, conduzido frente às empresas EMBRAER e EMBRACO. O desenvolvimento do estudo bibliográfico permitiu pontuar as diferenças conceituais de gerenciamento de portfólios, gerenciamento de programas, gerenciamento de projetos e gerenciamento de ambientes multiprojetos, posicionar o CCPM dentro do rol de algoritmos de solução de ambientes multiprojetos e identificar as características que expliquem sua maior difusão no universo da administração de projetos, em detrimento de outras proposições matematicamente até mais robustas que ele. A pesquisa de campo identificou que, dentre as seis práticas preconizadas pela filosofia gerencial Visão Viável para a condução do CCPM, três delas despontam como fatores críticos de sucesso para o gerenciamento de ambientes multiprojetos: reduzindo a multitarefa nociva, planejando e executando. Por fim, os dados coletados evidenciaram que o CCPM traz ganhos quantitativamente significativos ao desempenho do gerenciamento de ambientes multiprojetos, especialmente no que diga respeito ao incremento da capacidade de entrega de projetos (throughput) de um pool de recursos de tamanho constante, e que sua efetiva implementação é impactada pela estrutura organizacional e pela maturidade em administração de projetos da empresa. / The present work discusses the recent experience of Brazilian companies in continued management of multi-project environments by means of Critical Chain Path Method, or CCPM, through a multiple case study conducted on the companies EMBRAER and EMBRACO. The bibliographic study allowed the determination of conceptual differences among portfolio management, program management, project management and multi-project environment management, positioned the CCPM inside the roll of multi-project solution algorithms and identified characteristics that explain its widest adoption in the universe of project management, to the detriment of other propositions, although mathematically even more robust than CCPM itself. The field research identified that, among the six practices advocated by the managerial philosophy Viable Vision for the conduction of CCPM, three of them stand out as critical success factors for managing multi-project environments: reducing harmful multitasking, planning and executing. Finally, the data collected indicated that the CCPM brings significant performance gains to the management of multi-project environments, especially related to the throughput increase of project delivery, considering a constant size pool of resources, and that their effective implementation is impacted by the organizational structure and the maturity in project management of the company.

A presente obra aborda a experiência recente de empresas brasileiras no gerenciamento continuado de ambientes multiprojetos pelo Método da Corrente Crítica, ou CCPM, Critical Chain Path Method, através de um estudo de casos múltiplos, conduzido frente às empresas EMBRAER e EMBRACO. O desenvolvimento do estudo bibliográfico permitiu pontuar as diferenças conceituais de gerenciamento de portfólios, gerenciamento de programas, gerenciamento de projetos e gerenciamento de ambientes multiprojetos, posicionar o CCPM dentro do rol de algoritmos de solução de ambientes multiprojetos e identificar as características que expliquem sua maior difusão no universo da administração de projetos, em detrimento de outras proposições matematicamente até mais robustas que ele. A pesquisa de campo identificou que, dentre as seis práticas preconizadas pela filosofia gerencial Visão Viável para a condução do CCPM, três delas despontam como fatores críticos de sucesso para o gerenciamento de ambientes multiprojetos: reduzindo a multitarefa nociva, planejando e executando. Por fim, os dados coletados evidenciaram que o CCPM traz ganhos quantitativamente significativos ao desempenho do gerenciamento de ambientes multiprojetos, especialmente no que diga respeito ao incremento da capacidade de entrega de projetos (throughput) de um pool de recursos de tamanho constante, e que sua efetiva implementação é impactada pela estrutura organizacional e pela maturidade em administração de projetos da empresa. / The present work discusses the recent experience of Brazilian companies in continued management of multi-project environments by means of Critical Chain Path Method, or CCPM, through a multiple case study conducted on the companies EMBRAER and EMBRACO. The bibliographic study allowed the determination of conceptual differences among portfolio management, program management, project management and multi-project environment management, positioned the CCPM inside the roll of multi-project solution algorithms and identified characteristics that explain its widest adoption in the universe of project management, to the detriment of other propositions, although mathematically even more robust than CCPM itself. The field research identified that, among the six practices advocated by the managerial philosophy Viable Vision for the conduction of CCPM, three of them stand out as critical success factors for managing multi-project environments: reducing harmful multitasking, planning and executing. Finally, the data collected indicated that the CCPM brings significant performance gains to the management of multi-project environments, especially related to the throughput increase of project delivery, considering a constant size pool of resources, and that their effective implementation is impacted by the organizational structure and the maturity in project management of the company.

This thesis describes a domain of interdependencies emerging in within the projects as well as between them, in situations, when these projects are about to reach the same objective using their shared deliverables or resources. In the IT projects area are such project interdependencies rather identified in majority of all ongoing projects - due to this reason, the theoretical part of this thesis describes relationship of areas of project, program and portfolio management as well as managing projects in the multi-project environment and dependency management. Based on the results of the theoretical part and acquired knowledge, the tools and techniques for managing such project interdependencies are presented in the practical part of this work. The aim of the theoretical part is to introduce the issue of management of interrelated projects and to identify the areas, in which the formation of dependencies and linkages occurs and is followed by the subsequent need of their management - then the practical part is focused on the exploration and presentation of the functionality of available tools and methods that can be used to manage projects interdependencies. When selecting the specific tools and methods, the practical part of this thesis further develops the results theoretical part and extends mapping and assignment of specific tools and methods in different areas of interdependencies and management levels. Due to this systematic approach to the interdependencies topic, which is firstly described on a theoretical level, and then extended with the practically - oriented attitude, the thesis points out where the interdependencies are, who is responsible for managing them and which tools and methods can be used to identify, describe control and work with them. A useful overview of this quite unknown area is provided by this thesis.

A multi project environment entails challenges to project members as well as for the unit who governs the projects. The purpose of this paper is to create a greater knowledge about how project portfolio management can function in practice in different contexts. This paper concerns the public sector which creates additional challenges for the project portfolio management. They must for example always respect how projects will affect the society. Furthermore, the projects in public sector usually have a much stricter budget as well as greater demands. The paper is based on a qualitative study in which eight project managers have been asked how they experience the project portfolio management within the public sector. The answers can be interpreted to that the relationship between the principal and the project manager is crucial to how the project portfolio management is experienced, especially concerning the degree of participation and expectations. Furthermore, there are several aspects which suggests that the mother organization and the project management are clashing. This shows itself for example in resource allocation problems and quick decision making. One way to interpret this is that it depends on two different views on decision making. The public sector entails a bureaucratic system that according to some respondents often slows decisions down, decisions which they maybe view as self-evident. To have a good and effective project management in the public sector seems hard. It is suggested though, that the project portfolio management should be adjusted to the prerequisites that each organization entails. The study also shows the importance of the relationship between agent and principal and how it affects the possibilities to operate projects effectively. / En multiprojektmiljö innebär utmaningar för såväl projektmedlemmar som för den ledning som samordnar och projektstyr. Syftet med denna uppsats är att skapa större förståelse för hur projektstyrning kan gå till i praktiken i olika kontexter. Den offentliga sektorn som studien berör innebär ytterligare utmaningar för hanteringen av en multiprojektmiljö. Uppsatsen baseras på en kvalitativ studie med åtta projektledare där projektledare har frågats hur de upplever projektstyrningen inom offentlig sektor. Resultatet tyder på att den personliga kontakten mellan uppdragsgivare och projektledare kan vara avgörande för hur projektstyrningen upplevs, exempelvis är delaktighet och förväntningar viktigt. Vidare finns det även flera aspekter som tyder på att linjeorganisation och projektverksamheten krockar. Det här tar sig bland annat uttryck vid resursprioritering och snabb beslutsfattning. Föregående kan tolkas bero på olika perspektiv på beslutsfattande. Den offentliga sektorn innebär ett byråkratiskt system som ofta upplevs bromsar beslut som de själva kanske tycker är självklara. Att bedriva en bra och effektiv projektledning i offentlig sektor tycks således vara svårt. Däremot så föreslås det att effektiviseringsarbetet bör anpassas efter de förutsättningar som vardera organisationen har för att skapa ett så effektivt system som det bara går. Studien visar även vikten av hur det personliga förhållandet mellan uppdragsgivare och projektledare påverkar möjligheterna att bedriva projekt effektivt.

This thesis focuses on creating an testing useful methodology for small business with multiproject environment in practice using principles of theory of constraints and potential for improvement. Small firms have their specific characteristics, therefore aplication of any methodology blindly is not appropriate -- it is necessary to adjust chosen methodology to suit needs of small business. For the small business it is ideal to apply theory of improving performance on the basis of improvement potential, which is based on theory of constraints (TOC) and use theory of constraints (as such) as complement. First of all, it is necessary to analyze chosen firm (for this thesis it will be typical firm) then apply methodology for such firm (on the basis of learning common characteristics, that are common to all small firms of this type) and verify the results afterwards. This thesis describes proper procedure that utilizes both potential for improvement (with emphasis on real potential for improvement) and general. The procedure (or let us say methodology) is verified and its effect on effectiveness of small business management is confirmed in. Thesis also focuses on assigning criteria for evaluation of metodology application succesfulness, and on evaluating results of application of this metodology in typical firm (using above mentioned evaluation kriteria).

En utgångspunkt för den föreliggande avhandlingen och doktorsstudien är den spridning och ökning av projektarbetsformens tillämpning, som skett sedan mitten av 1900-talet. Det har blivit allt vanligare med så kallade multiprojektmiljöer, dvs. verksamheter där projekt är en normalt förkommande arbetsform och av så stor betydelse att projektledning och projektstyrning (t.ex. värdering och uppföljning av projekt) är en viktig fråga för organisationens ledning. För många organisationer där förmågan att hantera projektarbetsformen blivit avgörande för överlevnad och lönsamhet finns därför ett stort behov av att förbättra projekthanteringen. Det dominerande synsättet har länge varit att alla projekt i grunden är likartade och kan ledas och styras effektivt med standardiserade projektledningstekniker och modeller. Alltfler forskare menar dock att det är så stora skillnader mellan olika projekttyper att projekthanteringen måste anpassas efter projektens särdrag, vilket förutsätter en möjlighet att analysera det aktuella projektet – att kunna ställa en ”projektdiagnos”. I en ambition att öka kunskapen om projekten i sig, är syftet med doktorsstudien att utveckla beskrivningar av de särdrag i projekt som har avgörande betydelse för projekthantering i multiprojektmiljöer. Tre fallstudier har genomförts i tre organisationer som utvecklat och implementerat en projektmodell för att förbättra sin projekthantering. Fallstudierna har delvis genomförts med aktionsforskning som metod. Detta har gjort det möjligt att studera projekthanteringen under lång tid, och att skapa nyanserade beskrivningar av särdragen i respektive multiprojektmiljö. Utifrån fallstudierna, projektforskningen och egna erfarenheter från projektmiljöer, har ett ramverk för strukturerad projektanalys utformats i syfte att öka resultatens generaliserbarhet. Ramverket, som består av tre analysmodeller och tre grundläggande perspektiv på projekt, utgör en begreppsapparat för strukturerad projektanalys som är fristående från fallstudierna. Studien visar hur särdragen i olika projekttyper, t.ex. förekomsten av dubbla operativa logiker och olika slag av komplexitet, är avgörande dels för projekthanteringen, dels för vilka förbättringsåtgärder som är effektiva i en multiprojektmiljö. Ytterligare ett bidrag från studien är det ramverk som utformats med utgångspunkt i den stora variation som olika projekt uppvisar ur ett resultatperspektiv. / A starting point for the present thesis is the increased application of the project work form, a form that has been growing in usage since the mid 1900s. Today, multiproject environments have become increasingly common, i.e. organisations where projects are a normal part of the working environment and where they are of such great importance that project management and project steering (e.g. evaluation and follow-up) are considered important for the organisation's management. In many organisations where the ability to apply the project work form is critical for survival and profitability, there is a great need to improve the management of projects. The dominating view has long been that all projects are inherently alike, and can be effectively managed and controlled with standardised project management techniques and models. However, more and morere searchers are pointing out that because there are in fact quite distinct differences between different types of projects, project management must be adapted to the distinctive characteristics of the project, which presupposes the possibility of analysing the project in question – of being able to make a "project diagnosis". In an attempt to increase knowledge about projects as a type of work form, this doctoral study aims to develop descriptions of distinctive characteristics in projects that are essential for project management in multiproject environments. Three case studies have been performed in three organisations that have developed and implemented a project model to improve their project management. The case studies have been performed using action research methodology. This has made it possible to study project management during an extended period of time, creating nuanced descriptions of the distinctive characteristics in each multiproject environment. From the case studies, project research and personal experience in project environments, a framework for Structured Project Analysis (SPA) has been designed with the aim of increasing the generalisation of the results. The framework, based on three analysis models and three basic perspectives of projects, provides a conceptual model for structured project analysis independent of the case studies. The study shows how the various distinctive characteristics of different project types, such as the presence of dual operational logics and varying types of complexity, are crucial for both management of projects and for deciding which improvement measures are most effective in a multiproject environment. A further contribution of the study is the framework that has been designed based on the wide variation presented by different projects through a results perspective.