The UK Fashion Industry (FI) is both volatile and fast-changing. Notably, the clothing and jewellery industry contributes £16 billion annually to the UK’s revenues. However, small and medium-sized (SMEs) fashion companies are stressed to survive the harsh global competition. The companies have to manage their routine projects, thinking constantly about keeping their market position and how to develop further in their industry. Thus, the FI requires an in-depth understanding of the success factors to survive in this competitive marketplace. A detailed literature review has been conducted to discover the background of the FI and also to understand the basic requirements of daily operations and strategies used for development and growth. As there is not much empirical study available in the area of FI, a qualitative exploratory study has been chosen as the research methodology for this particular research. A multiple case studies approach was chosen to cover eight case studies located in Leicester, Luton and London. The study is interpretative and social constructionism is its philosophical approach; and hence, the context of the study has to be interpreted in its own ethnographical setting, why and how participants construct the meaning of project management (PM). This data triangulation provided the study qualitative credibility of the findings. The data analysis found four main themes, comprising fifteen sub-themes. ‘PM capabilities’ is the most important theme for completing the daily routine operations; these are also highly utilised in the UK FI SMEs. ‘Sensing new opportunities’ is the second important theme for advancing further; these are utilised by SMEs to remain up-to-date with the market environment. ‘Manufacturing capabilities’ is the third theme found helping SMEs with their routine manufacturing base in the UK: how they extended their trade through manufacturing. ‘Jewellery industry (JI) capabilities’ is the fourth theme helping the JI to outsource and deal with trust and relations in their trade. The study contributes to the UK FI SMEs by suggesting Dynamic Project Management (DPM) approaches specific to each industry, namely, the clothing, jewellery and designer industries. Research findings also suggest that new dynamic strategies need to be sensed, adopted and learned for the development and survival of these SMEs. The benchmarking tool, provided through status categories, will guide any company in the FI to compare its progress and take steps for further development. PM tools and techniques suggested for use by these FI SMEs will also help them with further improvement in project operations.

The work deals with using Project Management Office when managing project portfolio. Theoretical part characterizes project from a perspective of project life cycle, staffing on project and project risks. Next it describes particular organizational levels of Project Management Office and activities that could be done by Project Management Office. Last but not least it provides overlook of maturity of project management in the Czech Republic. Practical part analysis on example of financial company the processes taking place in corresponding phases of a project. Next the processes of change management, risk management, project deliverables, quality assurance, reporting and budgeting are analyzed. At the end of this work the processes are evaluated and the steps for improvement are formulated.

M.Ing. / This dissertation will aim to indicate a methodology on how to manage fast tracked projects efficiently and effectively. Initially, some conventional project management methods will be investigated. By using practical knowledge obtained from working on fast track projects and data collected, alternative approaches to conventional project management techniques will be investigated and identified. An attempt will be made to derive an accurate as possible methodology and technique for managing fast track projects. Projects and project management are utilised not only in the engineering industry, but are used extensively in Banking, Advertising and numerous other areas of the economy. In most instances, the primary goal of a project is to create a system or process that will generate revenue for a company or person. This is especially true for engineering related projects, where an Engineering, Procurement, Construction Management (EPCM) company does the project for and on behalf of a separate entity or client, generating revenue for both the client and the EPCM Company. With this in mind, the economical truth “higher risk generates higher income” must be acknowledged. Project management is the tool used to manage these risks so as to ensure the highest possible income and profit margin, without taking unacceptably high risks. The project management methodology implemented must define the level of acceptable risk and must be able to identify advances in available technology, building methods, etc. so as to ensure as high as possible risk hence ensuring the highest possible revenue. In recent years these advances were so great that it initiated a complete methodology shift in the project management process, hence the term fast track projects. As a closing note one should never assume that fast track project management is an escape code for being reckless in approaching projects. If the methods are applied correctly, it can and will lead to a successful project. What should be understood from the onset is that there is a definite limit on how quickly a project can be done. This limit must be acknowledged by all seeing that going beyond this limit is reckless and will result in a disastrous project. This term is also known as a project’s terminal velocity.

A review of techniques that support Concurrent Engineering or Simultaneous Engineering (CE/SE) is presented. It is shown that the management of projects consistent with the principles of CE/SE is hampered by the lack of a suitable activity network modelling tool. The limitations of existing methods such as the Critical Path Analysis Method (CPM) and the related Program Evaluation and Review Technique (PERT) for the management of complex design projects are demonstrated. Recent enhancements and alternatives to CPMlPERT are reviewed. A network model is proposed that supports CE/SE and is capable of representing uncertain task outcomes, partial dependencies and task iterations characteristic of complex design projects. Discrete-event simulation is used to evaluate the network and show the effect of resources constraints, communications efficiency and activity control logic on project completion timescales and product quality. The proposed model is designed so that the activity network can be derived from and directly related to a Quality Function Deployment (QFD) matrix. This allows project completion to be expressed in terms of customer requirements and priorities. The network model is illustrated by showing how it can be applied to an aerospace design project.

Thesis (MBA)--Stellenbosch University, 2015. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The academic view on project portfolio management is not as well formulated as in commercial literature (PMI / APM / IPMA). It is not understood if there is sufficient agreement in academia for a universally accepted definition of project portfolio management and its value contribution. A structured literature review was conducted to determine if there are commonly reoccurring project portfolio management principles identified in academic literature and to find the most suited definition of PPM. The research revealed a number of principles that are consistently referenced by the various articles. A suitable definition to satisfy the majority of the articles was not identified and the author proposes a definition to suit the academic content.

published_or_final_version / Housing Management / Master / Master of Housing Management

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This thesis describes investigations into the phenomenon of time estimation in mechanical engineering design. Time estimating in this context refers to estimating in advance the approximate duration of a new design project, for the purpose of preparing schedules. The thesis describes background to the estimation problem, including practical and theoretical aspects of design, design management and market conditions. The research presented is based on data gathered from industrial collaborators, therefore detailed descriptions of the collaborating firms are included. A quantitative study is described which demonstrates that current estimation techniques are not infallible; and that there can be a statistically significant link between the estimated and actual completion times. A process of grounded theorising, based on expert interviews, is presented. Models of the design estimation task were generated by this process, and are included. Differences were found in the models for the estimation of times in an Engineer to Order (ETO) environment, and estimation in a Volume Manufacturing environment. The models were corroborated firstly by checking if they could be recognised and endorsed by the experts from which they were generated, and. secondly by checking if they could be recognised and endorsed by an expert not involved in the original model generation. Correspondence was found to be good. A modified model of time estimation is presented, taking into account the findings of the corroboration exercise. Finally, an example of a simple tool for assisting the estimation process is included.