<p>Abstract</p><p>In recent years funding aid operations has dramatically increased, along with the concern about the real impact of its initiatives. Despite considerable amount of money have been invested world widely and a great number of projects already implemented changes have been considered inconsistent. As a result, major donors are pressuring Non governmental organizations (NGO) to evidence their achievements and legitimate their cause. There are several factors which distinguish the NGO as unique within project management environments, such as the social accountability claimed and the nature of the impact aimed. Therefore, traditional project management practices might not be suitable in the case of NGO’s project. This study analysed project methods most applied for NGO’s project and discussed about it accountability challenges related to project management. Willing to further understand how in practice NGO managers are dealing with those challenges, a case study was developed with a NGO that works with environmental issues. As a result, it was evidenced that practical methodologies are applied to embrace the organization own needs. It was apparent that project management methods were adapted to the institutional purpose, even though adjustments might not be completely in accordance with internal procedures. Project management tools are assumed as a semi structure basis and can be adjusted if the work is justified. A flexible approach relies on the trust and expertise of the organization staff. As a conclusion, it was evidenced that NGO’s projects carry particular aspects and expectations over project accountability and management methodologies must be adapted and complementary methodological approaches are being developed.</p>

<p>This thesis is dealing with the integration of Japanese and German project workers in automobile inter‐corporate research/pre‐development projects. The focus is on better understanding the respective decision making process. As cultural differences play a big role in the way that people behave an extra focus was put on investigating this. The methods chosen for this study were quantitative research in the form of a questionnaire and qualitative research in the form of an interview series.</p><p>For the quantitative research, literature in the cross‐cultural field was studied and from different cultural dimensions suggested by various authors, a synthesis was derived. This was then used as the base for a questionnaire. The data both enabled a quantitative research study and supported the qualitative study. A number of questions with a more straightforward approach to decision making in projects were also a part of the questionnaire. The data was processed using the statistical software SPSS and the results were analyzed using factor analysis and ANOVA.</p><p>The factor analysis of the quantitative data had only one factor which had a significant difference between the German and the Japanese sample. The dimension was called individuality reward and describes to which degree a society reward competent group behavior versus competent individual behavior. The German sample showed a strong tendency towards favoring competent individual behavior whereas the Japanese sample leaned towards favoring competent group behavior.</p><p>The questionnaire questions directly linked to decision making showed no significant differences between the samples showing that individual attitudes within the German and Japanese sample varies more than the cultural differences between the two groups. This shows that you cannot expect a Japanese or German person to act in a certain way in a certain decision making situation just judging on their cultural background.</p><p>In order to get a deep understanding of the decision making process a qualitative series of interviews were conducted. All interviews with Japanese and other people on location in Japan were conducted in‐person at different locations around the Tokyo area. Interviews with people situated in Europe were made over the phone. The interviews were recorded and later transcribed and interpreted to gain a thorough understanding of the decision making process.</p><p>From the qualitative material several differences in how German and Japanese people work and make decisions were found. More time is put into sharing information and getting consensus before a decision in Japan than in Germany were discussions and arguing in meetings are more tolerated. The reason for this behavior in Japan is to not lose face and as well as making it possible to make a decision fast once brought up in a meeting. Germans remain more flexible to revisions after a decision has been made because of the shorter preparation phase.</p><p>There is big overlap of members between different inter‐corporate research projects in the automobile industry. Japanese project members tends to be older than their German counterparts which makes them more stable as younger people might disappear from a project as they move up the corporate ladder. In Japan there is a greater emphasis put into after‐work activities compared to Germany where it is seen as beneficial but not as often used as a way to gain a personal relationship.</p><p>The thesis concludes that by relatively small measures common decision making between Japanese and German project workers can become smooth and with few misunderstandings. Introductions to respective cultures as well as keeping an open mindset and non assertive attitude should help avoid some of the worst case scenarios. A kick‐off in the beginning of a project in order to build a personal relationship and trust would surely help the project come off to a good start. Setting common goals for the project and confirming data with people involved in a decision process will facilitate common consensus decision making. Also confirming decisions as simply as paraphrasing what has been said or by informal one‐on‐one discussions in a break or after a meeting can keep misunderstandings due to the language barrier to a minimum.</p>

<p><p>Det existerar i dagsläget många färdigutvecklade mjukvaror för att underlätta olika organisationers processer.  Dessa mjukvaror täcker ofta stor del av den funktionalitet som organisationen behöver – till ett förhållandevis lågt pris.</p><p>Priset för att skräddarsy mjukvara, i motsats till färdigutvecklad mjukvara, efter sin egen organisation kan, speciellt när företaget är litet, vara väldigt högt i förhållande till lönsamheten. Då alla organisationer är olika, och således har olika funktionalitetskrav kan flera system behövas för att täcka dem. Överlappningen som sker mellan systemen ger plats för redundant data, som utan noggrann kontroll kan bli felaktig data.</p><p>En lösning är att integrera mjukvaror med varandra för att skapa bryggor emellan och således ta bort risken för felaktig data. Detta är ursprungspunkten för denna undersökning. Bristen på information om hur en sådan systemutveckling bör ske är motivet för denna utredning. Utredningens syfte är att täcka detta kunskapsbehov.</p><p>Genom att använda aktionsforskning, som förespråkar nära samarbete mellan praktiker och forskare, har ett organisationsspecifikt problem studerats. Artefakter från vissa delar av systemutvecklingsmetoden Rational Unified Process(RUP) har utvecklats för att ge organisationen ett praktiskt bidrag, samtidigt som ett akademiskt bidrag i form av riktlinjer har utvecklats. Eftersom avgränsning till vissa delar av RUP är gjord utvecklades inte ett fullt system utan artefakter för att underlätta själva utvecklingen – en slags förstudie.</p><p>Riktlinjerna, som speglar det praktiska bidraget, visar på ett ökat behov av att beskriva och illustrera arkitekturen hos det system som ska utvecklas. Men även ytterligare kunskap om de system som skall integreras bör utvecklas, detta innebär ett behov av närmare samarbete med organisationen.</p><p>RUP kan kompletteras med ytterligare metoddelar för att täcka speciella behov som projektet kan ha – detta inkluderar metoddelar för att hantera integrationsprojekt. Det är denna undersöknings slutsats att sådan komplettering inte är nödvändig i mindre projekt då RUP redan beskurits ordentligt under situationsanpassningen. Artefakter för att beskriva arkitektuella aspekter av projektet finns i RUP och inkluderingen av dessa bör täcka de behov ett mindre projekt har.</p><p>Undersökningen har även studerat hur integrationsfokuset påverkat valda delar av RUP. Resultatet av denna frågeställning är ytterligare modell-element i några artefakter samt ett antal ytterligare artefakter för att beskriva arkitektur.</p></p>

<p>Syftet med uppsatsen är att ge en bild av hur generella projektledningsmetoder används inom reklambranschen. Vi ville undersöka vilka aspekter av projektledningen som kan påverkas av de speciella förutsättningar som finns i reklambranschen. Varje reklamprojekt innehåller en skapandeprocess, och vi ville se hur sådant påverkar projektledningen.</p><p>Vi sammanställde först ett antal generella projektledningsmetoder för att få en teoretisk bild av hur projekt kan bedrivas. För att ge läsaren en inblick i reklambranschen och hur reklam skapas, beskrev vi även reklam ur ett teoretiskt perspektiv.</p><p>Med utgång från vår teori, genomförde vi en kvalitativ studie av sju reklambolag i Karlstad. Vi gjorde djupintervjuer med en projektledare från respektive byrå, under vilka de fick beskriva sitt projektarbete. Det empiriska resultatet från intervjuerna jämfördes sedan med den teori som låg till grund för undersökningen.</p><p>Undersökningen visade att reklambyråerna i stor utsträckning använde sig av projektledningsmetoder, i vissa fall utan att de själva var medvetna om det. Förstudien är inte särskilt omfattande från byråernas sida. Det är istället kunden som genomför det mesta av det arbete som vi skulle kalla förstudie. Planeringen av den kreativa arbetsprocessen var i de flesta fall så ostrukturerad som vi på förhand trott. Vi märkte även från vissa byråer en ovilja att strukturera planeringsarbetet, något som verkade bero på branschtraditioner. Efter att planeringen för projektet är gjord och idén tagits fram, har reklambyråerna ofta en produktionsledare som styr genomförandefasen. Projektledarna har då en marginaliserad roll, vilket är en skillnad gentemot gängse metodbeskrivningar inom akademin och näringslivet. Även om det fanns brister i planeringsarbetet, hade byråerna väl utarbetade rutiner inom andra delar av projektarbetet, framförallt för acceptansproceduren mellan byrå och kund.</p><p>Byråerna visade genomgående brister när det gäller rutiner för erfarenhetsutbyte mellan projekt. Slutrapporter skrivs inte, och lärdomar stannar därför hos dem som deltagit i det specifika projektet. Det riskerar att göra reklambyråerna beroende av att medarbetare stannar inom företaget.</p> / <p>The purpose of this essay was to study to which extent project management methods are used in advertising projects. We wanted to investigate which aspects of project management can be affected by the special conditions characterizing the advertisement business. All advertising projects demand a process of creation, and we wanted to see how that can affect the project management.</p><p>In order to create a picture of how projects can be run from a theoretic point of view, we made a compilation of a number of general project management methods. To give the reader an insight in the advertisement business and in how advertisement is produced, we also described advertisement from a theoretic point of view.</p><p>With our theoretic view as base, we carried out a qualitative study of seven local advertising agencies. We made in-depth interviews with project managers from all seven agencies respectively, during which they described their project processes. The empirical result from the interviews was then compared with the theories that formed the basis of the study.</p><p>The study showed that the advertising agencies to a great extent used project management methods, in some cases without themselves being aware of it. The agencies’ feasibility study is not especially comprehensive. Instead it is the clients that perform most of the work that we associate with feasibility studies. The planning of the creative work process was in most cases as unstructured as we had expected. We also noticed unwillingness from some agencies to make the planning process more structured, something that seemed to be due to business traditions. After the project planning is done and the idea for the campaign has been developed, the agencies often have a production manager to control the project execution phase. During the execution phase, the project manager has a marginalized role, something that differs from an academic view of project management. Even if the agencies had deficiencies in their planning processes, they had well elaborated acceptance procedures.</p><p>All agencies lacked routines for exchange of experience between projects. Final reports are not written, and lessons learned stay within the project team. This leaves the success of the agencies depending on their co-workers staying in the company.</p>

<p>International aids, which target socio-development in developing and/or underdeveloped countries, are generally undertaken through projects. These projects, which are named as international development projects (IDPs), are financed mainly by multilateral and bilateral development agencies. However, management of these projects, which have less tangible objectives and deliverables, differ drastically from traditional industrial-commercial project types, that have more tangible objectives and deliverables. Moreover, the intensive investments on IDPs have not yielded the expected progress yet. Therefore, ensuring a successful IDP management through the satisfaction of factors that are critical for project success becomes crucial for both sponsoring bodies and receiving countries. Nevertheless, the current literature provides only a limited number of studies, such as studies conducted by Diallo and Thuiller (2004; 2005), Do and Tun (2008), on this subject area. Then, this study following previous studies by Diallo and Thuiller (2004; 2005), Do and Tun (2008), aims to contribute to this gap in the literature through investigating critical success factors (CSFs) for implementation phase of international development projects (IDPs) in Kazakhstan. Not only the applicability of Do and Tun’s (2008) CSFs for IDP implementation phase to IDPs being implemented in Kazakhstan are tested but also a new set of CSFs is generated for the implementation phase of IDPs being implemented in Kazakhstan.</p>

<p>As the world is becoming more and more globalized, business has to take the global marketplace into serious consideration. This is not just about new markets to sell products in, but also where to locate production and where to source resources from. With the launch of new communication technology it has also become easier and easier to cooperate across national borders without having to meet face-to-face. This has led to an increased demand on project managers concerning how to manage the communication within their project teams since they now can have members located in different geographical locations.</p><p>The main purpose of this research was to develop a deeper understanding about how project managers are managing communication within virtual teams. This was firstly done by through a literature review of the present knowledge in the field identifying five sub topics of interest.</p><ul><li>Communication channels<strong></strong></li><li>Skills for effective communication <strong></strong></li><li>Dealing with technology<strong></strong></li><li>Dealing with differences in culture and language<strong></strong></li><li>Managing trust and relationships<strong></strong></li></ul><p>These sub topics were used through the rest of the thesis as the structure of the argumentation. The empirical research consisted of a deductive interview study of four respondents within the ICT sectors in Sweden and Denmark.</p><p>Through the analysis and the conclusions all the topics were discussed in detail, where we got to know more about how they can be used to manage communication in virtual project teams. Something that came up in the analysis was the role of corporate culture in dealing with challenges in virtual communication, which in the end was suggested as a main topic for future research.</p><p>Different communication channels showed to be good for different things, both in terms of the efficiency of the communication but also for things such as facilitating engagement and accountability. There seem to be no clear understanding of what skills are required for efficient work in virtual teams, both in the present knowledge in the field and among the respondents. For managing technology it showed to be important to make sure that the technology works, that the team members know how to use it and why, and to find ways to warm up the media by making it more personal. Differences in culture and language were found to best be dealt with by building trust within the team and creating an understanding of the existing differences. Asynchronous communication showed to be effective for dealing with bigger language problems. The solutions for managing trust and relationships mainly revolved around social communication and getting to know each other better in the beginning, and around regular and predictable communication in the long run.</p>

<p>Managerial behavior often differs between individuals and situations. To understand this variation the manager’s own interpretation of the role, context and role behavior is especially important. In this thesis several managers’ subjective views and understandings of their role during an organizational change period were investigated in great detail. The organizational changes were assumed to put pressure on the managerial role, exposing adaptive and dynamic role aspect and thereby shed light on differences in behavior. The general purpose was to thoroughly investigate the concept of ‘subjective managerial role’ by two contrasting approaches. One was influenced by concepts and methods used in social constructivism and constructionism (Study 1-3), and the other was a rational/cognitive approach influenced by theories and methods used in cognitive psychology (Study 4-5). Multiple case studies with subjective reports from five managers during a period of sixteen months were chosen as the empirical base. In the constructivist approach three judges were used to interpret the managers’ verbal reports during the beginning of the change period, focusing on indications of ‘subjective role projects’. ‘Subjective role projects’ involved reflections on situations, actors, purposes/goals and action strategies, all within a time frame of the past, present and future. This qualitative content of the role was investigated, and support for the existence of subjective role projects was tested (Study 1). The variation between the managers’ subjective role projects and their general project strategies were explored (Study 2). The judgment and construction process pursued by the three judges was analyzed (Study 3). In the rational/cognitive approach the focus was on role problems. A control model was used to represent subjective role conflicts, on both group and individual levels. Difficult situations described by the managers were complemented with goals and actions strategies, and the managers rated conflicts between these role components, while thinking-aloud (Study 4). Role conflict patterns and dimensions were further analyzed using two quantitative data models (Study 5). Finally, the subjective role construct was compared with a contextual interpretation of the role, based on information from the organizational and social role context (Study 6). The results supported the basic components in both the project model and the control model of the subjective role, but the latter approach would benefit from a more elaborated stimulus sampling. In both approaches the differences between the managers were assessed, but in the constructivist approach it was difficult to separate variation stemming from managers from variation between judges. In the rational/cognitive approach the variation was restricted to conflicting aspects in a specific model. The control model features and the quantitative conflict data made it easier to estimate variance. A major conclusion was that the two approaches complemented each-other in their descriptions of the subjective role. The project model was adequate for investigating the first sense-making phases in the organizational change process, while the control model approach could describe role conflicts and problems, especially on individual levels. However, they both could fit within a framework of a subjective role process model. Using these two approaches in role analysis can provide more information on the subjective role processes of the role incumbent.</p>

<p>A1302</p><p>Introduction: Peru is a country that is undergoing a process of democratic transformation. Local and international development agencies are established in Peru in order to support this process. In the last decade, there has been an encouragement for these agencies to use strategic management in their project work. The Logical Framework Approach (LFA) is an objective-oriented approach that has become widely employed for the planning, implementation and evaluation of development projects. The so called “vertical logic” of the LFA, rests on the assumption that project stakeholders can predetermine and agree on how certain activities will lead to the accomplishment of a hierarchy of formally stated goals.</p><p>Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to analyze the applicability of the vertical logic of LFA on development projects in Peru.</p><p>Theoretical framework: The theoretical framework of this paper is based on theories and arguments raised for and against Management By Objectives (MBO) from which the LFA originates. In addition, the special features of the development sector are discussed in regard to this rational goal approach.</p><p>Method: This paper has been carried out as a Minor Field Study (MFS) in Peru where representatives of local as well as international development agencies have been interviewed.</p><p>Empirical findings and Analysis: This paper highlights the special characteristics of development work in Peru. Projects are typically large with abstract, complex goals and multiple stakeholders. In addition, they are carried out in an environment typified by significant instability and change. These characteristics potentially make some of the features inherent in the vertical logic of LFA, such as strict planning and goal congruency, unrealistic. This potentially limits its usefulness as a strategic management tool.</p>

This thesis presents a discussion of the main materialistic theories proposed to explain the process of development among the indigenous population of Latin America. Four theoretical approaches are presented and discussed. The first one deals with the social group referred to as peasants. The second one explains the process of economic development at the global level. The third one deals with agroecology and its implications. The fourth and final one refers to ethnicity studies. These four theories are related to the case study of the Indian peasants of Cebadas, Ecuador. These people have experienced and continue to experience processes of economic development and ethnic revitalization, thus providing a good example of how all the theories discussed interplay in a local setting. The element that brings all pieces together is an agroforestry development project carried out in Cebadas by an Ecuadorian non-governmental organization. The rejection by the Indian peasants of the agroecological orientation of the agroforestry project, in the context of the historical and current sociocultural processes of the area represent a choice for a special kind of modernization. The modernization that the Indian peasants want does not create loss of ethnic specificity, but rather reinforces their self-organization and increases their economic opportunities. Results show a relationship between use of exotic tree species and modern technology and the emergence of an incipient Indian ethnic movement. / Graduation date: 1996

Background: As companies are operating more and more globally, the need for increasingly coordinating and cooperating activities are becoming important. One solution to problems associated with work in globally dispersed teams can be to organize business activites, such as product development, virtually. A virtual setting for knowledge transfer is becoming a part of day-to-day activities for globally dispersed organizations such as Autoliv, the company in focus for this study. Purpose: To explore to what extent and in what respect companies can, using virtual teams in the product development process, by codifying knowledge, improve communication and transfer of knowledge between business units within and between projects in order to improve and increase cooperation and coordination. Method: The approach taken, has been an hermeneutic case study where we have carried out 16 in-depth interviews with a total of 17 respondents. The interviews have been carried out in face-to-face or videoconference settings with Autoliv employees from all over the world. Results: Codification should be used as a complementary tool to the personalization strategy within knowledge intensive companies. The fact that Autoliv’s product development teams often are globally dispersed creates an even larger need for codification in order to reach efficiency in the knowledge sharing process. Positive effects from this can occur, such as help creating a common understanding, which will facilitate coordination and cooperation activities.