M. Phil. / Risk management comprises of risk identification, risk analysis, response planning, monitoring and action planning tasks that are carried out throughout the life cycle of a project in order to ensure that project objectives are met. Risk is a fact of life in all mining type projects. This research dissertation documents the risk management practices of an EPCM company involved in mining projects. Risk analysis techniques are discussed and the author goes deeper to examine what risk means to a project, and how the project team perceive, identify and quantify project risks. This dissertation uses a case study to focus on an EPCM firm‘s approach to risk management in the mining projects environment. This study aims to illustrate how the risks involved in a project have to be identified, controlled and managed. The purpose of this dissertation is therefore to act as an implementation risk management model for the case company and for use in a typical mining projects environment. Risk is an integral part of engineering projects, and it is necessary to manage the risks in order to ensure project success.

M. Phil. / The purpose of this study was to explore the role and experiences of the coordinators of structured mentoring schemes across various sectors of society in South Africa. A purposive sample of 25 schemes was identified and both quantitative and qualitative data was obtained through questionnaires and interviews. It was found that mentoring in South Africa, as with overseas countries, is used for a wide variety of purposes. There are varying degrees of success reported from these schemes and the predominant model of mentoring as reported in the research tends to follow the “sponsorship” approach to mentoring, which may not be the most appropriate for transformation in South Africa. Coordinators often find their roles lonely and frustrating, partly because the role is combined with other roles which take priority. Coordinators tend to initiate their own role and derive mainly altruistic role satisfaction. This initiation of the role can lead to organizational isolation and lack of management support for the mentoring scheme. Recommendations for development and support of coordinators are made.

M.Tech. / Project and programme management have become important organisational developments in today’s business environment. The growth in projects across different sectors and industries, and their capability to enable organisations to cope with change in order to remain in business has emphasised the importance of project, programme and portfolio activities. Although project management has provided a means of achieving goals that could not be achieved in traditional ways, the single project model has failed to address issues that arise when multiple and related projects are undertaken within an organisation. Programme management has then provided a means through which organisations achieve almost everything they undertake. It has been perceived as the strategy implementation vehicle that links the overall strategy of the organisation with the portfolio of projects. While the use of programmes and programme management has grown in organisations, its capability to secure the investment of corporation has not been proven. Numerous failure stories with dramatic consequences for the corporation as a whole have been reported. With the pace of new regulations that require the appropriate and responsible management of company affairs, considering the huge investment that corporations place in programmes, it has become important to devise an efficient and effective mechanism of overseeing these investments. This research addresses the need to improve programme performance and ensure compliance with corporate policies. It focus on the governance side to determine how IT programmes can be governed while making sure that there is enough established control responsibility and accountability to ensure the achievement of the programme strategic objectives. This has been addressed by identifying corporate, information technology and project governance requirements that have implications for IT programme management. This had led to the consolidation of implications identified from the Sarbanes Oxley Act, Control Objective for Information and Related Technology and the Guide to Governance of Project Management in order to provide an integrated view of overseeing the management of programmes. The value of the research is that it has devised a conceptual framework for IT programme management governance that provides a means to ensure both programme performance and compliance to governance requirements that pertain to corporations. The value of the framework is that it contains governance requirements that ensure an efficient and effective decision-making and delivery management, focused on achieving programme goals in a consistent manner while addressing appropriate risks, issues and events that can impede the programme outcome.

M.Ing. / The competitive world of commercial software development exacts unremitting regeneration, innovation and adjustment from each and every company that chooses to perform this function. The said regeneration, innovation and adjustment could result either from the proactive decisions of a company, or from its reaction to certain changes, such as changes in the market place and changes in available technologies. Should the business model fundamental to the software development of a company, however, fail to be adjusted for technological innovation (for example, object-orientated development), the chances of such innovations culminating in actual improvements in productivity are, however, greatly diminished. The principal aim of the present research study is to investigate the project-management and product-development processes within a specific organization selected as a case study, and, if possible, to propose improvements to these processes. Rubico, the selected company, has decided on account of observed marketing opportunities to focus on the development of software components and patterns for the financial-services sector. In order to realise the said focus, some of the current and envisaged activities of the company, for example, marketing and project delivery, have been outsourced to third parties. The Rubico Products Company (hereafter called Products) and Rubico Delivery Services (hereafter called Delivery Services) utilise a formalised methodology of interaction in order to find software solutions for their clients. Products is responsible for developing software components and software solutions, whilst Delivery Services specifies the said components and solutions with the client, in addition to reselling them to other clients. Products has entrusted the management of software products and patterns to product architects, whilst Delivery Services have employed project managers to manage the delivery of the said products and patterns. The golden thread that ties together the activities and roles of these two divisions is the product-delivery methodology to which both divisions subscribe. Proposals for the improvement of project management and product architecture are made not only in terms of a new definition for and in terms of the execution of the said processes, but also in terms of the responsibilities implied by these two roles. The present dissertation, however, contains merely the author’s opinions and conclusions in this connection, and does not necessarily reflect the vision and opinions of Rubico Company.

Abstract Product development plays a crucial role in the survival of high technology companies. High technology product development projects typically are multi-technical, multicultural, geographically dispersed, inter-connected and organized in a network of companies. These settings pose extra challenges for communication. In this qualitative multiple-case study, communication challenges and possible solutions for developing communication were studied. The empirical data were collected from five high technology product development projects. Each project represented a different high technology company operating in the Oulu area, in Finland. Multiple data collection methods were used, including interviews studying organizations’ internal documents, web-based surveys among project personnel and case-internal focus groups. After studying each of the five cases separately, a cross-case analysis was conducted by the researcher. The findings of this research show that communication challenges depend on the business role of the company. Efforts to enhance communication should be considered in relation to the business realities of companies. Typical challenges include a lack of communication planning, lack of project personnel’s communication competence and obstacles caused by physical & organizational boundaries. Possible solutions for developing communication include systematic planning of project communication and defining communication development targets based on internal analyses and the business realities of the company. Data management systems should be set up to enhance the work done and information flows in projects. Another solution is continuous trust building through feedback between the companies participating in the same product development project. According to the results of this study, companies can direct their efforts when enhancing communication in product development projects. Companies can also utilize of the process described in this research to identify their communication challenges and to define communication action plans.

Today, the advent of information technologies (IT) is changing the way the world communicates. The growth of internet related technologies provides building organizations with low-cost tools that can optimize project communications. In particular, the recent development of project specific "intranets", can enhance project communication by giving all members of the project team access to a common, centralized database of construction information. This study looked at the effect of project specific intranet systems on the communications of the project team. More specifically, the study analyzed several communication variables including timeliness, completeness, understanding, barriers, speed and procedures. Additionally, graphic models were developed to help describe the intranet's role in the project communication network. The methodology triangulated three data collection methods to measure variables on three case studies. This triangulation included the comparison of information benchmarks, an examination of communication effectiveness, and the use of social network analysis. The study found that when used properly, project specific intranet systems act as a key actor in a project communication network. Intranets also have a positive effect on the timeliness and understanding of project information, and their use can improve the speed with which information is transferred between project players. On the negative side, intranet use seems to contribute to the information overload of project participants. But the success of the project intranet is largely a function of project participation. For positive results several key players need to use the system on a regular basis. These key players include the architect, the project manager, the site superintendent and key office engineers. When one of these primary players refuses to participate, then the system quickly loses its effectiveness.

Government IT mega-projects often end in costly failure, despite attempts to identify those Critical Success Factors (CSFs) that lead to project success. This raises questions about whether these CSFs are understood, applied and, if so, whether they are having an impact on the management and subsequent performance of government IT mega-projects. The literature review compared CSFs from the generic and IT project management literature to find that they are broadly similar. CSF frameworks were then assessed to find a measure of the impact of CSFs and a measure of ‘performance’ was also defined. CSFs were then identified from fifteen reports on IT and information infrastructure projects and verified against the CSFs identified in the literature to produce a synthesised list of twelve CSFs. The understanding, application and impact of these CSFs were examined through a case study of the MoD’s Defence Information Infrastructure (DII) Programme, a government IT mega-project to provide a more integrated and coherent Defence infrastructure. It was evident that the CSFs were recognised and they appeared to have been understood within the DII Programme. However, the extent to which they have been applied is variable with differing effect. Therefore, the impact that CSFs have had on the management of the DII Programme is debatable. There were areas where the project could have been managed better and, therefore, could be performing better, suggesting that the overall success of the project is potentially at risk. The overarching conclusion of this study is that, in terms of the management of the DII Programme, the impact of the identified CSFs is variable and, where they are not applied, there is an adverse effect on its performance, suggesting a causal relationship. More generally, not applying generic CSFs to project management is likely to lead to failure, but is unlikely to assure success. Unique projects operating in highly specific and complex contexts require more contingent solutions. As a result of these conclusions, further case studies are suggested, along with further study into government and MoD IT project management and the management of trust in contractual relationships.

Project management is an experiential subject, and existing passive methods of teaching via lectures and seminars restricts learning to knowledge rather than leading to the deep understanding of the topic that the project management industry requires. Higher Education needs to produce competent graduates, i.e. those with both knowledge and experience. This research created and validated a conceptual framework to assist in the development of new project management simulations. The investigation confirmed that the use of simulations in the teaching of project management is a valid method of delivering experiential learning, and proposes a framework for how project management simulations can be created. The research commenced with a literature review, and a questionnaire was issued to project management lecturers to collect information on existing teaching methods and the current use of activities and simulations in the teaching of project management. From the literature and the questionnaire, a conceptual framework was created to assists in the development of new project management simulations. This framework was then tested by the creation of a new simulation. Finally, the conceptual framework was evaluated and validated by peers who have experience with project management simulations as project management lecturers. Following this validation the conceptual framework was further revised. The contribution to knowledge is threefold. Firstly the research provides a literature review into the use of simulations within project management teaching. Secondly the conceptual framework provides a starting point to other academics who are considering developing their own simulations, and finally the conceptual framework can be used to asses existing simulations. The results of the study show that the conceptual framework will greatly benefit academics when considering the development of simulations in project management teaching. This is important, because there is a growing need for student centred learning, and students who have a competence in their subjects as well as knowledge.

The competitive advantage in a dynamic environment can only be gained if the organisation stays aligned with underlying tendencies of that environment, which makes the management of change one of the most important functions of organisations. Organisations often find that earlier paradigms for the management of change are no longer relevant. This necessitated a new paradigm for the management of change, in order to enable organisations to adapt to a turbulent environment. In this article the focus is therefore on the development of a new paradigm for the management of change, in which the management of change is viewed as a strategically planned process in which a communication strategy plays a core role. Existing models and theories were therefore refined and incorporated in order to develop a holistic, systemic model for the management of change. / Prof. Sonja Verwey

M.Phil. / A project is successful if it is finished on time, to cost and to quality. Time and cost are relatively easy to understand and measure, however it is not easy to measure quality during the project life cycle. In spite of quality being stated as one of the major criteria of project success, appropriate attention to this is not always given in the context of projects. There are several possible definitions of good quality on a project. A project is said to be of good quality if the project's outcome has the following [17]: • Meets the specification • Is fit for purpose • Meets the customer's requirements • Satisfies the customer. Projects based organisations design and build complex items/systems such as aircraft or locomotives in relatively low volumes, or design and construct bridges, processing plants, that are unique, and once-off projects. Products such as aircraft have extended working lives, therefore after-sales support such as maintenance, servicing and upgrading are more important than for product-based organisations. A great proportion of management and engineering effort is therefore absorbed by such support functions. In projects more effort goes into design and production or construction engineering compared with product based organisations. According to Carruthers [3] "Very often projects that have been successfully completed within nominal scope, time and cost from the project manager's point of view turn out to be failures in the long term because of operational, product quality and/or marketing problems. The positive or negative influence of quality lasts long after 'cost successes' or 'schedule compliance' have been discounted or even forgotten." Examples of projects, which failed due to what the author regards as 'poor quality', will be discussed at the end ofthis dissertation (i.e. in chapter five).