Underhållningsbranschen är en bransch som alltid arbetat i projektform. Trots det finns det inte tillräckligt med empiriska studier på projektledning inom underhållningsbranschen, speciellt inte i Sverige. Många författare menar att de teorier som finns kring projektledning är för ensidiga och inte kan tillämpas på alla former av projekt. För att öka kunskapen inom projektledning behövs därför fler empiriska studier inom olika typer av branscher. Projekt i underhållningsbranschen är intressanta, mycket på grund av att de till skillnad från andra branscher oftast lyckas hålla tiden. The show must go on. Syftet med denna uppsats är att utveckla en differentierad förståelse för projektledarskap inom underhållningsbranschen. Detta för att ge ett bidrag till den företagsekonomiska diskussionen kring projektledning samt öka den empiriska kunskapen inom denna typ av bransch. Studien är hermeneutisk och forskningsansatsen är abduktiv. Den empiriska undersökningen har genomförts genom fallstudier där kvalitativa ostrukturerade intervjuer har genomförts med fyra projektledare i underhållningsbranschen. Studien visar fyra olika typer av projektledare som alla har olika förhållningssätt till sitt projektledarskap. Deras projektledarskap har formats genom deras tidigare erfarenheter, deras personligheter samt påverkas av organisationens storlek. / The entertainment industry has always worked on a project basis. Still, there are not enough empirical studies on project management in the entertainment industry, especially not in Sweden. Many authors claim that the existing theories about project management are too one-sided and cannot be applied to all projects. To increase the knowledge of project management we need more empirical studies on various types of industries. Projects in the entertainment industry are interesting largely because they, unlike other industries, mostly manage to keep the time limit. The show must go on. The purpose of this paper is to develop a differentiated understanding of project management in the entertainment industry. The aim is to give a contribution to the discussion around project management in the field of business administration and to increase the empirical knowledge in this type of industry. The study has been addressed from a hermeneutic and abductive approach. The empirical study has been conducted through qualitative unstructured interviews with project managers in the entertainment industry. The study shows four different types of project managers that all have different approaches to their leadership which has been developed trough both past experiences and their personalities. How they lead their projects also depends on the size of the organization.

Inter-organizational projects have become common forms of organizing in various industries such as construction, advertising, music, film making etc. The unique structural nature of Inter-organizational projects coupled with the fact that they carried out through the participation of multiple organizations, raises issues of coordination. Particularly when it comes to creative industries, coordination is challenged by demand and transactional uncertainties. In order to understand how inter-organizational projects achieve coordination in such situations, it is important to study their interior processes putting in consideration their environmental context.  The aim of this research is to study how network embeddedness enhances coordination in inter-organizational projects within creative industries. Inter-organizational projects: are projects that are carried out through the collaboration of multiple legally independent organizations Inter-organizational networks: refer to sets of long-term ties among independent organizations that are engaged in continuous exchange relations. Embeddedness: refers to the continuous interaction of individuals, organizations, projects etc. with their environmental context. Macrocultures: refer to the shared beliefs, norms values rules and practices with in inter- organizational networks that guide members on their actions. A qualitative approach using a multiple comparative case study was conducted. Accordingly four projects chosen from creative industries were studied using both primary and secondary data. Macrocultures that are embedded inter-organizational networks facilitate coordination within inter-organizational projects. Further projects that differ in their constituents task nature, time duration and team composition relied on different types of embeddedness for coordination.

New Ventures projects emerge in response to the growing need of countries to develop and grow economically in an environment characterized by rapid changes. The importance of these projects is such that during the last decades they have played a role not only as drivers of the economy but also as sources of new jobs and innovation (Chen, 2009). Due to this importance, there have been multiple studies related to the efficient management of such projects. However, it is not sufficient for these projects to be managed properly, but the presence of limited resources makes necessary to select, prioritize and control these projects strategically within a portfolio.   This strategic management can be carried out by using the theory developed in Project Portfolio Management (PPM). The importance of PPM is the ability to integrate the world of projects with the operation of organizations, helping to minimize failures such as making unnecessary effort to undertake these projects in an appropriate manner when in fact these are not the right projects.  However, there is a lack of knowledge in the application of PPM theory for New Ventures projects, because their characteristics differ from those of any other type of projects in terms of high level of risk and, in many cases, high technical uncertainty (Mac Millan & Gunther, 2000).  This knowledge gap can be minimized using two different approaches. The first one consists in employing the theory developed by PPM in R&D projects, applying it for New Venture projects, as suggested by Mac Millan & Gunther (2000). The second approach corresponds to using the theory developed around the management of projects within Business Incubators (BIs) and Venture Capital firms (VC) in every stage of the PPM process.   This study describes how BIs and VCs in Sweden manage their New Venture projects portfolios in issues such as selection, prioritization and monitoring and control. To achieve an adequate depiction of this process, the study seeks primarily to identify the role of BIs and VCs in the PPM and the proper relationship that should exist between both organizations to ensure an ideal flow of projects at each stage of their development. In addition, it also seeks to find whether tools outlined in the literature are often used in practice.   Among the main findings of the study, the major contribution of the BIs is mainly in the feasibility analysis of projects and the support they give in their development, while VC firms are usually more focused on the selection, prioritization and monitoring and control of their portfolios. In practice there have been shortcomings in the transition of New Venture projects between BIs and VCs. These can be solved by creating a single organization that integrates the entire process of PPM between BIs and VCs, or other alternative is for VCs to start investing mainly in early stage projects.  Another important finding corresponds to the use of the expertise of BIs and VCs members as the most important tool when making strategic decisions. And although there is general satisfaction with the success of these projects in Sweden, some authors have argued that this industry is not totally mature. Therefore, this study suggests using some tools, proposed in a conceptual model, developed to achieve the maturity that New Venture projects industry requires.

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.

Abstract 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.

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. 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. Communication channels Skills for effective communication Dealing with technology Dealing with differences in culture and language Managing trust and relationships 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. 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. 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>The construction of roads, either as an economic tool or as necessity for the implementation of other infrastructure projects is increasing in the tropical forest worldwide. However, roads are one of the main deforestation drivers in the tropics. In this study we analyzed the impact of road investments on both deforestation and jaguar habitat loss, in the Mayan Forest. As well we used these results to forecast the impact of two road investments planned in the region. Our results show that roads are the single deforestation driver in low developed areas, whether many other drivers play and important role in high developed areas. In the short term, the impact of a road in a low developed area is lower than in a road in a high developed area, which could be the result of the lag effect between road construction and forest colonization. This is consistent since roads resulted to be a significant deforestation driver for at least two decades. Roads significantly affect jaguar's habitat selection; however males showed a higher tolerance than females. From 1980 to 2000 female jaguars lost 36% of their habitat wile males lost 22%. Our forecasting of the impact of the proposed road, shows that it will promote the deforestation of approximately 16,851 has, and the jaguar habitat loss of 146,929, during the first decade; meanwhile the alternative route will have and impact of 2519 hectares and the habitat loss of 899 hectares.</p> / Dissertation

Why does it always overrun the budget? Those who engage in construction engineering practice, including budgeting, contracting and construction site management, often experience additional project budgets. The business operator of the construction company will feel the pain as flesh- like when project budgets were overspent. Relating issues have not been researched to the bottom yet till now. Such as: How serious they are for overrun? What caused it? How much it will impact? And could it be comprehended then find ways to resolve? And so on. The research methods employed in this study are through questionnaire survey, interviews with professionals and the case study to collect data as the foundation of analysis and to explore various problems about discrepancies and links between budgeting and completion of settlement. According to findings of this study, the researcher will offer some suggestions to relating engineers and business operators.

Bidding is a very competitive process in the construction industry; each competitor’s business is based on winning or losing these bids. Contractors would like to predict the bids that may be submitted by their competitors. This will help contractors to obtain contracts and increase their business. Unit prices that are estimated for each quantity differ from contractor to contractor. These unit costs are dependent on factors such as historical data used for estimating unit costs, vendor quotes, market surveys, amount of material estimated, number of projects the contractor is working on, equipment rental costs, the amount of equipment owned by the contractor, and the risk averseness of the estimator. These factors are nearly similar when estimators are estimating cost of similar projects. Thus, there is a relationship between the projects that a particular contractor has bid in previous years and the cost the contractor is likely to quote for future projects. This relationship could be used to predict bids that the contractor might quote for future projects. For example, a contractor may use historical data for a certain year for bidding on certain type of projects, the unit prices may be adjusted for size, time and location, but the basis for bidding on projects of similar types is the same. Statistical tools can be used to model the underlying relationship between the final cost of the project quoted by a contractor to the quantities of materials or amount of tasks performed in a project. There are a number of statistical modeling techniques, but a model used for predicting costs should be flexible enough that it could adjust to depict any underlying pattern. Data such as amount of work to be performed for a certain line item, material cost index, labor cost index and a unique identifier for each participating contractor is used to predict bids that a contractor might quote for a certain project. To perform the analysis, artificial neural networks and multivariate adaptive regression splines are used. The results obtained from both the techniques are compared, and it is found that multivariate adaptive regression splines are able to predict the cost better than artificial neural networks.

Competitive Bidding, Competitive Sealed Proposal, construction management agency, construction management at risk, Design-Build, Design-Build-Bridging, and job order contracting are seven project delivery methods that are commonly used in the state of Texas today. This paper empirically compares the cost, schedule, and change order management performance of these project delivery methods in 2009 Engineering News Record (ENR) Best Construction Projects in Texas, using the data collected from the projects representative of the population. Also information is collected on lessons learned from these projects. The thesis included development of survey instrument, getting approval from Institutional Review Board (IRB), data collection from the industry, statistical analysis and inferences. Based on the data collected, project performances were measured in terms of five identified variables and then plotted in the form of probability distribution curves to understand the characteristics of the target population. Then, the results were grouped into six categories based on project delivery methods used and compared to understand their impacts on these projects. Findings revealed predominant usage of CM at Risk PDM, and better cost and schedule performance of CM at Risk, Design-Build, and Owner customized PDM. Detailed performance metrics, results, interpretations and conclusions are presented.