Dynamic Capabilities is a contemporary popular notion, incorporating the ability to adjust a company’s resources adequately to exploit opportunities, prevent threats and consequently retain competitive advantage. Teece et al. (1997) coined Dynamic Capabilities and triggered a wave of research on the topic. However the notion is still in its infancy through academic disputes, different viewpoints and multiple definitions. Consequently tool, measure and procedures of Dynamic Capabilities are absent. Likewise the research on a project management level is scanty and just recently caught attention amongst scholars. To further tap into this research area, this study aims to analyse how project managers in Bayer AG can, and do, reinforce Dynamic Capabilities within their strategic projects. Nevertheless this is a difficult undertaking and other theories linked to the idea of Dynamic Capabilities were utilized to substitute and support this study.   The research is based on the definition of Zollo and Winter (2002) who divides Dynamic Capabilities into three main levels. Learning (level 2) is at the core of the notion and comprises of Knowledge Management activities. Dynamic Capability (level 1) denotes the possibility and flexibility to translate knowledge into practice through the adjustment and re-location of available resources. The final outcome is the adjustment of the operations (level 0) and the modification of on-going processes. However numerous scholars, including this study, exclude level 0 as Dynamic Capabilities and merely see it as the final outcome. To substitute the gaps in theory, support available concepts and extend the view on the levels, other theories such as Knowledge Management and Risk Management are enclosed.   Analysis of theory as well as the practical investigation of project managers from Bayer AG, revealed that knowledge exchange is the predominant driver of Dynamic Capabilities. While theory stipulates that IT software should be adequate enough to provide fast and easy access to information, project managers highlight that their main focus is on a culture encouraging personal, honest and open communication. Contradicting the idea of Dynamic Capabilities, a majority of project managers highlight that projects are locked after planning, neglecting change during execution. However, budgets are spaciously calculated providing flexibility to attain further resources when required. Additionally, Bayer provides a large pool of available resources, a culture encouraging communication and freedom of choice to their project managers. Merely detailed feasibility studies, monitoring processes and control mechanism are enforced to ensure successful project completion. The ultimate source of project success is implied to be practical experience. The theory of Dynamic Capabilities has aroused curiosity encouraging for further, deeper research on the topic.

This thesis reports an exploratory, quantitative study into the implementation of strategic decisions. Implementation was viewed as a discontinuous organisational activity involving strategic change. The organisational vehicle of change is seen as "the project" and the specific unit of analysis adopted is the capital investment project. Manufacturing organisations were studied because these were shown to most frequently undertake such projects. Adopting a theoretical perspective derived from systems theory and cybernetics a model of implementation was developed which recognises two dimensions of implementation success (modes of organisational change) to be contingent upon a dimension of project uncertainty and two dimensions of information. From this model ten hypotheses were developed. Data on 45 projects was collected from a diversity of manufacturing companies. This was obtained using a structured questionnaire instrument administered to a single informant during a retrospective personal interview. Initially the data was analysed using principal components factor analysis to determine the factorial compositions and reliabilities of scales measuring theoretical constructs. Subsequently, causal modelling and stepwise regression techniques were employed to test the hypotheses. Analysis demonstrated that the essentially structural approach to implementation taken in the study adequately explained many of the observed associations between constructs. Hypothesised associations between organisational structure and implementation success could not, generally, be supported. Finally, the theoretical model adopted was not able to account for a number of empirically observed associations. These associations were explicable in terms of a behavioural or social dimension. The wider implications of the study are also discussed.

Continued increase in population and escalating environmental degradation have changed the priorities of agricultural development projects in developing and emerging countries towards both increasing production or productivity and improving sustainability. The long-term success of these development projects, especially in terms of improving sustainability, depends on how widely those improved practices which are shown to be effective in achieving the technical objectives, are adopted/adapted by farmers in the targeted region. In these terms, many projects in recent years may be considered to be relatively unsuccessful. This study aimed to investigate the factors contributing to the effectiveness of agricultural technology research and development projects in improving the sustainability of cropping systems in upland areas of China, together with the factors that might limit their effectiveness. This has involved both a review of recent projects carried out in the region and detailed monitoring and evaluation of one such project carried out in South West China – the SHASEA project. The SHASEA Project was implemented in Wang Jia catchment in Yunnan Province using holistic and multi-disciplinary approaches to address the twin objectives of increasing productivity of maize, wheat and soybean in a more sustainable and environmentally-friendly way. It introduced into the catchment a range of novel or modified cropping practices, which had been evaluated in plot studies over the preceding six years, together with biological and engineering measures designed to stabilise large scale soil movements in lateral gullies and the main stream. The SHASEA Project was successful in achieving its short-term scientific and technical objectives, but was too short to determine the level of adoption by farmers in the locality. The present study has used a range of approaches to evaluate the effectiveness of this Project, to monitor the biological, environmental and socio-economic impacts and investigate the perceptions of the farmers about the Project and the likelihood of their adoption of the recommended practices. Participatory approaches were used wherever possible, including detailed household surveys, PRA workshops and discussions with Key Informants. Field surveys and direct observations were also made, together with a limited economic analysis of the modified cropping practices introduced into the catchment. It was found that the farmers had different perceptions about the range of practices introduced into the catchment. Some were clearly preferred, such as contour cultivation and were likely to be adopted, while others were seen as inappropriate, such as straw mulching and intercropping, and were unlikely to be adopted. The benefits of an innovative, integrated cropping system, INCOPLAST, were not fully appreciated by the farmers. Other practices would only be adopted if the financial returns were favourable, such as the use of polythene mulch. Longer-term measures, such as tree planting schemes, were regarded favourably, but adoption would still depend on economic returns and related issues such as land security. An irrigation scheme was suggested by the farmers, but after installation it was not used extensively for the staple crops in the catchment. It was found that farmers planned to use the irrigation for higher value crops such as tobacco, after the end of the Project. It has been concluded that, despite the technical and scientific success of the Project, long-term adoption of many of the practices introduced into the catchment will be low, unless considerable incentives are used or much more effective dissemination techniques employed. It is considered that the outcomes would have improved considerably if participatory approaches had been used from the outset, to engage farmers more fully with the project, to ensure that the practices introduced were as appropriate as possible, to achieve greater ownership of the objectives and outcomes, leading to higher adoption rates. More emphasis should have been given to the dissemination of the outcomes at farmer level outside the catchment of study and there should have been more involvement with the regional policy makers and extension officials throughout the programme. Longer-term improvements in sustainability at the catchment level have not yet been demonstrated. These outcomes are discussed within the context of other agricultural projects carried out in South East Asia and other developing regions. Based on the outcomes and conclusions from this study, a series of recommendations are made which are presented as good practices for future agricultural development projects in South East Asia.

The thirty years of sectarian violence between the Catholic and Protestant communities (known as the Troubles), left the Northern Ireland society deeply suspicious of the 'other'. Since the sighing of the Good Friday Agreement in 1998, Northern Ireland has moved through a tentative peace process. At the time of writing the issues that hold the peace process in stasis include the decommissioning of paramilitary weapons and policing. Similarly the release of political prisoners as part of the Good Friday Agreement has been a difficult reality to face foa significant number of victims of sectarian violence. During the Troubles two approaches prevailed in attempting to reconcile tohe two main communities iand bring an end to the conflict. These were the structural approach and the cultural approach. The structural approach saw the roots of the Northern Ireland conflict as lying within its institutional frameworksand looked for ways to address this. Alternately, the cultural approach saw hat thte conflict was sustained through the belief systems of the two main communities, with the perpetuation of thnegative myths about the 'other'. Resolution of the conflict was seen to be possible by challenging these belief systems through either cross-community work, which brought together Cathoics and Protestants in face to face meetings, or community developemtn work, which focussed on single identity work, empowering the identites of each community so that the two main communities could come together as equals,. It was generally acknowledged that the structural and cultural approaches nneded to be used in tandem, in the effort to reconcile the two main communities. The thesis focuses particularly on the cultural approach, by examining what role, if any, community arts played in reconsiling the two main communities in Norther Ireland between 2001 and 2002, four years af the signing of the Good Friday Agreement. The assumptions that informed this research were: i) reconciliation, the restoration of relationships, can be facilitated through the creation of a safe environment wherein people can express their stories of living through a period of violent conflict, to and with one another, in a non-threatening space; ii) community arts can assist in the creation of these safe spaces by producing opportunities for people to create and express these stories in different and less threatening ways. In examining the role of community arts, the thesis highlights three approaches community arts organisations adopted in their work: an arts for arts sake approach, a cross-community approach and a community development approach. By using these approaches, the thesis shows that whilst community arts has helped in a significant number of ways, a large number of people in Northern Ireland have not been ready to talk about reconciliation, and significant sections of the Protestnant community have been reluctant to engage in community arts activities, both within their own community and with members of the Catholic community.

The role of risk management in the construction industry is essential due to the complexityand dynamic environment of the projects. To enhance project success, it is important toembed risk management practices in every activity of the project.The research question is “What is the classification of risks of joint ventures projects indeveloping countries and especially in countries that are facing economic crisis?” Theobjective of this thesis work is to assess the risks by creating proper risk probability versusrisk impact matrices and proceed with further analysis and based on the criticality of themand furthermore to allocate the risks and possible bias of the Concession AgreementBased on literature review and the objective of this thesis work, the propositions are thefollowing: “1) All the examined risks have the possibility to exist. 2) Risks, which hugelyimpact joint venture projects, are financial risks. 3) The purpose of the ConstructionContract is to ensure a fair distribution of risks between the parties, determining the parties'rights, duties, responsibilities and obligations in advance. 4) Criticality is an independentvariable from impact and possibility.”Due to the nature of this research and the research objective, the scientific idealimplemented is critical realism. This research is conducted based on quantitative method ofprimary data analysis. A questionnaire was formed in order to be given to the Panel ofExperts from different organizations for the evaluation of the problem.Based on the empirical data and analysis, the author indentified and evaluated the risks ofthe joint venture construction projects in developing countries within the definedenvironment of the consortium, where the state has a specific regal role, based oncriticality, risk probability and risk impact. The analysis of the data was done with the RankReciprocal method (Carr & Zwick, 2007, p.70). In this thesis work, they are identified,individually and also aggregately, the specific risks with high criticality, high probabilityand high impact. The risks of joint venture projects classified with the higher criticality, thehigher probability and the higher impact, aggregately, are: Public Utilities Organizations(P.U.O.) permits delay (due to either Concessionaire's fault, or State's), State defaults (or anExtensive Force Majeure Event creates a State Event of Default), Events of Delay occurduring Design-Construction period affecting that period or the next one (the OperationPeriod), Critical path complications due to Archaeological Surveys revealing antiquities,Delays, inability of State in its obligation to go forth in expropriations. Risk managers canfocus on those risks and ensure the success of risk management and project control.

More specifically, it seeks to examine the making of sports policy as a field of state activity and as a process involving various projects, agents and transformations, by uncovering the underlying structures and relations in the national sports policy context. The research is informed by the premises of the Strategic Relations Approach as developed by Jessop (1990), while critical theory provides the link between the theoretical foundations and the interpretation of data. This task demands an analysis which can account for the political, social and economic environments in which sports policy is made, and also for the structures and actors involved. In doing so, the thesis challenges both the traditional Marxist approach to the state, and some of the Jessopian claims about interests, strategies and global influences on policy making. The history of the modem Bulgarian state is marked by three major transformations, and the advancement of three distinct projects - Capitalism, Communism and Europeanisation - each aiming to establish a new stateness. Subsequently, it is argued that sports policy is a strategic relation, the formation of which needs to be viewed within state-society relations at particular historical conjuncture. Furthermore, this relation constitutes a process of past and present struggles, the outcomes of which are uncertain. The study draws several conclusions regarding strategic relations in sport policy making by highlighting: the relations between state projects and sports projects; the forms of state intervention in sport in various socio-political environments; the constitution of power in sports policy and state-society interactions; and the role of transnational and local forces in shaping sports policy (e.g. international sports federations and the IOC). The conceptualising and operationalising of Strategic Relations allows for three overriding tendencies pertinent to Bulgaria's sport policy to be outlined - of continuity, statisation and incongruity. One aspect of this study of theoretical interest in that, so far as can be ascertained, it is the first time that the Strategic Relations approach has been applied to a Communist state.

In today's worldwide competitive environment, contracting companies are competing in terms of product quality, delivery, reliability and customer satisfaction. In current literature, models of performance measures for contracting companies and construction projects have limitations and shortcomings. They depend mainly on financial measures. These are no longer sufficient to ensure survival and continued profitability in time of change. New measures of performance at the different levels of contracting companies are, therefore, needed. The relatively new performance measurement technique of benchmarking has been widely applied as a powerful performance management concept. However, current published literature does not provide satisfactory proof of its successful implementation in contracting companies. This research addresses these two major weaknesses. Firstly, a methodology using Nominal Group Technique and Delphi Technique was explained and applied to obtain consensus performance measures for construction projects. New performance measures appropriate to construction projects, together with each element's relative importance, were developed. The consensus covers project managers, senior managers and top management. Secondly, quality measures appropriate to construction projects, together with each measure's relative importance, were developed. Thirdly, new performance measures appropriate to contracting organizations were developed. The development of these measures and the determination of their relative importance depend upon: the strategic direction of the organization which reflects the current business and market conditions; the type of construction work; the organization structure; and the development of the management staff within the organization. Fourthly, the implementation of the new performance measures using benchmarking as a management tool for performance measurement and improvement was carried out in one of the largest contracting organizations in the Middle East, the Arab Contractors, Osman A. Osman & Co. The implementation was carried out over a period of five years. Sixteen company branches implemented the measurement system. Each branch was considered as an independent contracting company. The results showed that the use of the new performance measures and the implementation of benchmarking in the company were very effective and led to successful and improved performance.

As nations embrace e-government, the economic justification of ICT projects is not the problem, at least for now. The problem now is the failure of these projects that may then lead to wastage of resources. Current literature shows that goverrunents in developing countries face more challenges than developed countries when implementing ICT projects. Though literature on e-government has been increasing over the years, there is little literature on its implementation in developing countries. This thesis reviews the variables affecting the implementation of e-administration in African countries with specific reference to Kenya. The thesis starts by reviewing the variables for ICT implementation with reference to previous related research by individualso r literaturef ound on the websiteso f developmenpt artners.C ases tudiesw ere carried out in nine Kenyan Governmenmt inistriest o get the raw data for this research. The data collected was analysed and compared with the knowledge gained from the literature review. There is need to achieve the best possible implementation of ICT projects in government and the tools developed in this research should assist planners and implementers in this respect. An e-administration implementation framework is developed as a tool in this research. The framework is composed of a checklist, a strategic planning model and a set of recommendations and guidelines. The recommendations and guidelines document which also includes the checklist, the strategic planning model and the e-administration framework was circulated to practitioners and professionals in Kenya and other researchers for comments on their practicality and applicability. Their resulting comments were very positive about the applicability of the framework and the recommendations and guidelines.

Informacinių technologijų įmonėse projektai sulaukia daug dėmesio, kadangi šiose įmonėse veikla be projektų praktiškai neįmanoma. Dėl šios priežasties labai svarbu, kad būtų užtikrintas efektyvus projektų valdymas. Visai organizacijos veiklai, darbuotojų efektyviam darbui didelę įtaką daro motyvavimo įmonėje sistema. Kadangi pačiame projektų valdyme dalyvauja įmonės darbuotojai, norint pasiekti efektyvių rezultatų, motyvavimo sistemai čia turėtų būti skiriamas didelis dėmesys. Įmonės turėtų išsiaiškinti, kas motyvuoja jos darbuotojus vykdant tam tikrus projektus, ir atitinkamai taikyti motyvavimo sistemą. Darbo objektas yra motyvavimo sistema, daranti poveikį projektų valdymui. Darbo uždaviniai: • Įvertinti personalo motyvavimo sistemos ypatumus; • Įvertinti projektų valdymo būtinumą; • Pateikti projekto valdymo etapus; • Įvertinti pagrindinius projektų valdymo būdus; • Sukurti teorinį personalo motyvavimo sistemos poveikio projektų valdymui modelį; • Įvertinti pasirinktų IT įmonių personalo motyvavimo sistemą bei projektų valdymą bei nustatyti jų ryšį. Atsižvelgiant į tai, kokios motyvavimo priemonės daro didžiausią poveikį atskiriems projektų valdymo etapams, didesnį dėmesį reikėtų skirti ne visoms priemonėms, o toms, kurios labiausiai įtakoja projektų valdymą. Matant, kas darbuotojų nemotyvuoja kiekvienu projekto valdymo etapu, galima būtų toms priemonėms konkrečiame etape dėmesio skirti mažiau, atitinkamai labiau sureikšminant tuos motyvavimo elementus, kurie daro... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / The projects attract much attention in the companies of information technologies because the activity of these companies is almost impossible without the projects. Therefore it is very important to secure effective management of the projects. The motivation system in the company has big influence on the entire activity of the organization and effective work of the employees. As the company’s employees take part in the management of the projects, in order to achieve effective results, the motivation system should get big attention. The companies should learn, what motivates their employees while executing certain projects, and apply the motivation system accordingly. The object of the work is motivation system that affects project management. Tasks of the work: • to assess the peculiarities of motivation system of the personnel; • to assess the necessity of project management; • to present the management stages of the project and the main management modes of the projects; • to create the theoretical model of the impact of motivation system of the personnel on the project management; • to assess the motivation system of the personnel in selected IT companies, project management, and to determine their relations. Taking into account the motivation means, which have the biggest impact on separate stages of project management, the bigger attention should be paid not to all the means, but to the ones, which affect the project management the most. When it is seen that the employees... [to full text]

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