Project failures are a reality that most project managers face several times in their careers, but even more significant than the failure itself, is what these individuals learn after experiencing it. Studies do exist within the entrepreneurship literature which analyze failure of entrepreneurial projects. But these are not particularly focused on projects executed within organizations and the experiences of entrepreneurs would be different to those of project managers within firms, after a failure occurs. The authors have made a research from a sample of 6 project managers over such project failures. Using Kolb's experiential Theory to understand the learning that occurs after project failures helped the authors to create a model which the project managers can use in their process of learning after failures. This study also elaborates about the project management literature in association with project failures and also the various aspects of learning that can be achieved in an organization.

The main proposition of this study is to examine Volvo Powertrain's procurement ofproduction equipment in order to find solutions that can prevent delays in futureprocurements. The conditions of the case leads to the theoretical field of supplierdevelopment, which emphasizes the advantages of closer collaborations between thebuying company and their supply chain. Through focus groups with Volvo-personneland interviews with supplier representatives, a step-by-step examination is made ofprior procurement projects. The knowledge generated from the examination is theninterlaced with theory concerning supplier development, which results in a line ofconclusions of Volvo Powertrain’s procurement process and the possibilities to takesupplier development into consideration for future procurements. Finally,recommendations to Volvo Powertrain is provided in the form of an updatedprocurement model called Volvo Equipment Procurement Model.

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.

Ur ett demokratiskt perspektiv är medborgaren en av de viktigaste intressenterna i kommunala projekt. I förhållande till andra intressentgrupper särskiljer sig medborgaren på det sättet att det finns ett uttryckligt stöd i lagstiftningen att medborgarna ska involveras. Trenden sedan en tid tillbaka är att utöka medborgardelaktigheten i syfte att komplettera den representativa demokratin. Syftet med studien är att undersöka på vilket sätt medborgare involveras i kommunala projekt, men även identifiera vilka utmaningar och möjligheter som hanteringen av medborgares delaktighet innefattar. Vidare syftar studien till att beskriva metoder som kan utgöra ett stöd för projektledaren i samband med medborgardelaktighet. I studien tillämpas en kvalitativ metod. Empirin grundas på material från semistrukturerade intervjuer med nio personer som haft uppdrag i olika kommunala projekt. Resultatet visar att de möjligheter som är förknippade med att inkludera medborgare i projektverksamhet är att skapa resultat som överensstämmer med medborgarnas behov, förankring av beslut samt att utveckla den lokala demokratin. De utmaningar som framkommit i hanteringen av medborgares delaktighet är den representativa problematiken, intern förankring, tidsaspekter samt att hantera inkomna synpunkter. Studien visar även att kommunerna först bör bestämma syftet med medborgardelaktigheten och till vilken grad medborgare ska involveras innan beslut tas om vilken strategi och metod som ska användas. Av det empiriska materialet framkommer dessutom andra erfarenheter från projektledare som kan utgöra framgångsfaktorer i projektverksamhet, exempelvis vikten av att medborgarna engageras så tidigt som möjligt i processen och att det tydliggörs vilken påverkansgrad medborgare kan räkna med. En annan viktig omständighet är att det finns en tillräcklig bredd av intressenter och att projektet förankras både externt såväl som internt i organisationen. Kontinuerlig återkoppling till medborgarna utgör också en väsentlig faktor samt att projektledningen genomför kontinuerliga riskanalyser. / From a democratic perspective, the citizen is one of the most important stakeholders in municipal projects. In relation to other groups of stakeholders, citizens differentiate due to legislative support of involving citizens. The trend for some time has been to increase citizen participation in order to complement the representative democracy. The purpose of the study is to examine the way in which citizens are involved in municipal projects, but also to identify the challenges and opportunities that the management of citizens’ participation includes. Furthermore, the study aims to describe the methods that can be a support for the project manager concerning citizen participation. The study applies a qualitative method. The empirical data is based on material from semi-structured interviews with nine people who have served in various municipal projects. The result shows that the opportunities associated with the inclusion of citizens in the projects are to create results that correspond to citizens’ needs, consolidation of decisions and to develop local democracy. The challenges that have emerged regarding the management of citizens’ participation are the problem with representativeness, internal support, time approach and managing opinions received. The study also shows that the municipalities firstly need to determine the purpose of citizen participation and the degree to which citizens will be involved before decisions are made on the strategy and method to apply. The empirical data also shows circumstances, which may constitute success factors in projects, such as the importance of engaging citizens as early as possible in the process and that it is clarified what degree of impact citizens can expect. Another important factor is that there is a sufficient breadth of stakeholders and that the project is supported both externally as well as internally in the organization. Continuous feedback to citizens is also an important factor as well as the project management conducting continuous risk analysis. / <p>1964</p>

International Telemetering Conference Proceedings / October 25-28, 1999 / Riviera Hotel and Convention Center, Las Vegas, Nevada / This paper reports on the Space Shuttle, Record and Playback Subsystem (RPS) upgrade project turnaround brought about through extensive collaborative software development. The new project and systems engineering methodologies employed on this project resulted in many positive effects over the status quo method employed to develop and upgrade systems. These effects include; 1) a reduction in the initial software development costs, 2) a reduction in the development timeline, 3) improved marketability of the software technology developed, 4) improved product quality deployed to operations, and 5) improved maintainability. Attributes within each of the aforementioned are examined in support of these assertions. Prior to implementing this new method, the RPS upgrade project had been under development for seven years using the standard software development method. This involves developing custom applications using Commercial Off The Shelf (COTS) hardware, operating systems and compilers. A change in strategy was effected on this pathfinder project by adopting a COTS telemetry ground station software package to provide basic ground station functionality and building additional required capabilities to complete the project. The merits of having employed this methodology are explored using the probable outcome of continued custom software development as a basis for comparison . This collaboration between the United Space Alliance (USA) and AP Data Systems Inc.(an AP Labs company), resulted in software innovations in FM and PCM processing software as well as general ground station management software. The four technology transfer submittals for new software innovations resulting from this collaboration are discussed.

This research studies the eight principles of sustainability applied in Project Management. To be more precise the research fulfils four objectives which are: firstly, to review and identify key principles of sustainability in project management from existing literature; secondly, to adopt a multiple case study method to assess the applicability of the principles in project management; thirdly, to determine the barriers that impede certain principles to be applied in projects and the resulting trade-offs; and lastly, to refine the concept of sustainability in project management.The study adopts a subjectivist ontological viewpoint and an interpretivist epistemological outlook. The paper deductively studies the research question and adopts a qualitative mono-method research design, with a multiple case study strategy. The project case studies analysed belong to six different industries namely Pharmaceutical, Information Technology (IT), Automotive, Transportation, Furniture and Fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG). All case studies fulfil the criteria of being multinational organisations, operating in the private sector, having sustainability as a strategic pillar and projects executed in developed countries with a similar macroeconomic climate. The data has been collected through the semi-structured interview technique and examined using a thematic analysis. The results show that not all eight principles of sustainability are implemented in project management despite of multiple proactive endeavours of engaging in social and environmentally focused business practices. The two principles that show a limited applicability in project management are values and ethics as well as consuming income and not capital.The theoretical contribution of the research is realised through the first collective analysis of the eight principles of sustainability and their implementation in project management through empirical case studies. An additional contribution is through the selection of case studies from industries that have not been examined before. The practical implication of the research is to offer guidance to organisations on what principles they need to build their sustainability project management practices on and to point out the commonly faced barriers and trade-offs.

Thesis (PhD (Business Management))--University of Stellenbosch, 2005. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Projects inevitably appear on the agenda of organizations, especially those enterprises that are serious about surviving in a competitive and rapidly changing business environment. They have little say in whether they want to do projects, but they have the choice whether to take a project management approach, or whether to leave projects to their functional departments to carry out as part of their routine work. Growing numbers of organizations opt for project management, because they seek specific benefits such as the ability to accomplish targets under conditions of execution uncertainty and the ability to function across specialist disciplines. Too many organizations find their project management performance disappointing and, despite substantial investments in appropriate systems and training, do not attain the benefits claimed by project management advocates. In response, project management researchers have increasingly speculated about the likely influence of organizational culture in the frustrating experiences organizations have with project management. The reasoning behind this supposition appears sound. Most organizations attempting project management still have cultures shaped by a functionally dominated era of organization. Organizational cultures are only gradually breaking out of management traditions that emphasized principles such as high levels of structure and formalization, defined positions of authority, single channels of reporting, and minimal communication other than directions from management downwards. The philosophy of project management differs. Beneath the scientific and methodological facade of project management, there exists a set of attendant leadership and behavioural patterns that have become equally crucial to its performance, for example: high levels of communication; autonomy for project managers; supportive and participative leadership styles; participants that accept reporting to more than one superior; and the emphasis on collective performance. One can add to this list, but these demonstrate the substantial differences that exist between a project management approach and the traditional approaches to managing work and controlling staff. These differences have provoked project management authors to recognize the influence of organizational culture and to offer suggestions about the nature of a project management supportive organizational culture. This study accepts this notion and postulates that organizations, despite mastering the more obvious methodologies of project management, may have negative cultural circumstances that fail to master the underlying management philosophies that support successful project management behaviour. A consolidated definition of organizational culture, which could discriminate between supportive and unsupportive environments for project management, has however remained elusive in the project management literature. The expected relationship between organizational culture and project management has specifically been linked to project management in a matrix organization. In this environment, since there is an ongoing interaction between vertically managed (functional specialization) and horizontally managed (cross-functional) activity, the interdependency between project management and the organizational culture is likely to be strong. The purpose of this study was to: (a) develop, through a comprehensive literature study, a framework of organizational culture dimensions that could be expected to impact on the effectiveness of project management; and (b) to seek, through empirical examination, confirmation about this relationship between organizational culture and project management. The study developed a multi-dimensional and multiple constituent perspective of project management performance as a measure of project management effectiveness in the empirical research. The research found a statistically significant correlation between the hypothesized framework of organizational culture and project management effectiveness. This finding provides strong evidence to deduct that organizational culture and project management are interrelated and that organizational culture is an underlying variable that cannot be ignored when establishing a project management capability. The research further found statistically significant correlations between each of the twelve individual dimensions of organizational culture and project management effectiveness. The study has therefore also substantially progressed towards a framework that can assess the degree of supportiveness of the organizational culture in respect of project management. This should be a valuable tool for organizations struggling with unexplained problems in project management, or for organizations wanting to set up a project management capability. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Projekte verskyn onvermydelik op die aksielys van organisasies, veral by die ondernemings wat hul voortbestaan in ‘n mededingende en snel veranderende sake-omgewing ernstig benader. Organisasies se keuse lê nie daarin of hulle projekte wil doen nie, maar tussen die toepassing van die beginsels van projekbestuur, of die toevertrou van projekte aan funksionele departmente om dit binne die bestek van hul bedryfsfunksies uit te voer. Baie organisasies kies projekbestuur omdat hulle spesifieke voordele soos die vermoë om doelwitte onder ‘n hoë mate van taakonsekerheid na te jaag, en om trans-funksionele werk te bestuur, verlang. Te veel organisasies vind hul pogings tot projekbestuur teleurstellend en, ten spyte van ‘n substansiële belegging in stelsels en opleiding, ontwyk die tipiese voordele waarop aanspraak gemaak word, hulle. In antwoord hierop skryf navorsers in projekbestuur toenemend oor die moontlikheid dat sekere tipes organisasie-kultuur verband hou met die frustrasies wat organisasies met projekbestuur ondervind. Die onderliggende redenasies agter so ‘n afleiding blyk gesond te wees. Meeste organisasies wat tans projekbestuur aanpak, handhaaf steeds kulture wat in ‘n funksioneel georiënteerde tydperk van organisasie gevorm is. Organisasie-kulture wikkel hulle tans geleidelik los uit bestuurstradisies wat op beginsels van gestruktureerdheid, geformaliseerdheid, rigiede definisies van rolle en gesag, eenduidige kanale van rapportering, en minimale kommunikasie anders as opdraggewing van bestuur na laer vlakke, klem gelê het. Projekbestuur verskil hiervan. Benede die wetenskaplike en metodologiese fasade van projekbestuur bestaan daar ‘n stel van gepaardgaande leierskaps- en gedragspatrone wat ewe noodsaaklik vir die suksesvolle prestasie van projekbestuur geword het, byvoorbeeld: hoë vlakke van kommunikasie; outonomie vir projekbestuurders; ondersteunende en deelnemende leierskapstyle; spanlede wat meervoudige gesagslyne kan aanvaar; en die belangrikheid van spanprestasie. Die lys kan nog uitgebrei word, maar hierdie illustreer die betekenisvolle verskille wat tussen ‘n projekbestuursaanslag, en tradisionele benaderings tot die bestuur van werk en die beheer van personeel, bestaan. Hierdie verskille dwing outeurs in projekbestuur reeds geruime tyd om begrip vir die invloed van organisasie-kultuur te toon, en ook om bepaalde voorstelle oor die aard van ‘n ondersteunende kultuur vir projekbestuur aan die hand te doen. Die studie gebruik hierdie denke as vertrekpunt en postuleer dat organisasies, ten spyte daarvan dat hulle die ooglopende beginsels van projekbestuur bemeester, negatiewe omstandighede in hul organisasie-kultuur mag koester wat nie met die onderliggende bestuursfilosofieë van suksesvolle projekbestuursgedrag kan vereenselwig nie. Die verwagte verwantskap tussen organisasie-kultuur en projekbestuur word in besonder verbind met organisasies wat op ‘n matriksbasis funksioneer. In so ‘n omgewing is daar, as gevolg van die voortdurende interaksie tussen die vertikaalgerigte (funksioneel gespesialiseerde) en horisontaalgerigte (trans-funksionele) bestuur van werk, ‘n sterk verwagte interafhanklikheid tussen projekbestuur en organisasie-kultuur. Die doel van die studie was om: (a) by wyse van ‘n omvattende literatuurstudie ‘n raamwerk van die dimensies van organisasie-kultuur wat ‘n waarskynlike impak op projekbestuur behoort te hê, te ontwikkel; en om (b) deur empiriese ondersoek, bevestiging vir die verwagte verwantskap tussen organisasie-kultuur en projekbestuur te vind. Die studie het ‘n multi-dimensionele perspektief, wat ook die evaluering van verskillende belanghebbendes insluit, as maatstaf vir die effektiwiteit van projekbestuur in die empiriese ondersoek, ontwikkel. Die navorsing het ‘n statisties beduidende korrelasie tussen die gepostuleerde raamwerk van organisasie-kultuur en projekbestuurs-effektiwiteit bevind. Hierdie bevinding lewer sterk ondersteuning vir die afleiding dat organisasie-kultuur en projekbestuur interverwant is en dat organisasie-kultuur as ‘n onderliggende veranderlike in berekening gebring moet word by die vestiging van ‘n projekbestuursvermoë in ‘n organisasie. Die navorsing het verder bevind dat elkeen van die twaalf dimensies van die kultuurkonstruk individueel statisties beduidend met projekbestuurseffektiwiteit korreleer. Hiermee het die studie dan ook substansieel gevorder na die skep van ‘n raamwerk wat die graad van ondersteuning van ‘n organisasie se kultuur ten opsigte van projekbestuur kan assesseer. Hierdie behoort ‘n belangrike stuk gereedskap te wees vir organisasies wat met probleme in projekbestuur worstel asook vir organisasies wat projekbestuur as ‘n organisasie-vermoë wil vestig.

Thesis (MBA)--Stellenbosch University, 2001. / Some digitised pages may appear illegible due to the condition of the original hard copy. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: In a world of increased global competition and the need of customer specific product customisation, the management of projects gets more and more important in order to achieve competitive advantages. By shortening the duration of projects and making project controlling tools more accurate (according to reality), the process of management-decision making is supported and companies can achieve higher profit margins as they are able to concentrate on value-adding parts and to plan future steps efficiently. Critical Chain is a new methodology, which applies Eli Goldratt's Theory of Constraints to project management in order to complete projects faster and with higher predictability while simultaneously making more efficient use of related resources. The Critical Chain methodology uses different concepts to reach these goals: • Average task durations • Aggregating buffer at the end of projects • Counteract against unplanned iterations and other delays • De-conflict resources, both within and across projects. The new project management methodology "Critical Chain" is subject of this research paper. The document is a high-level methodology study, which gives indications, whether, where - and if, how - the concept can be implemented in business environments. The argumentation is based on literature reviews and practical experiences of two pilot implementations in a German heavy industry company, which is internationally operating. In addition, the mini thesis explains basic principles of the Critical Chain approach. Furthermore, main strengths, weaknesses and ideas to improve the methodology are part of the study. Finally, experiences of companies using this methodology as well as an introduction to a Microsoft Project™ add-on, named ProChain©, benchmark the usability of Critical Chain. Critical Chain appears to minimize schedule risk while at the same time minimizing project durations, and has the potential to improve both communication and employee moral. Especially cultural .challenges will be explained, because the human-typical 'resistance to change' is a major hurdle in implementing Critical Chain in a company's project management system. Due to these cultural challenges, Critical Chain is not easy to implement in all parts of a heavy industry company. As the concept is based on mathematical formulas, it is highly recommended that in the beginning only smaller projects with highly qualified employees with a mathematical background (e.g. engineers or other studies in the field of natural sciences) use this concept. As the success of the methodology is dependent on the input of the project members, the whole project team has to understand the principles in front. As such, it is very important that a training course for all people involved is part of the implementation process. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Geen

Study project (MBA)--University of Stellenbosch, 2003. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Organizational politics and the political environment of organizations are topics that have been extensively researched and debated in the academic literature. Organizations are not always strategically focused on this area of management and are not always aware of the consequences of the negative impacts of organizational politics on the success of their business. Project management also takes place within this political environment of organizations and is thus subject to its influences. The aim of this study was to provide project managers with some insight into the nature of organizational politics and political behavior and to assist them in understanding how these concepts impact on the project management process. The study takes the form of a literature review on the topics of organizational politics and project management. The study can be divided into five main sections: • Organizational politics is reviewed in terms of the definition of political behavior, dimensions of political behavior and the political environment of organizations. Examples of political behavior are given and the functional roles of politics in organizations are discussed. • The second section deals with the social perspective of project management in terms of the inherent nature of teams, operation within a matrix structure and leadership requirements of the project manager. Project management skills and success criteria are also studied. The third section views project management in terms of organizational politics and readdresses the areas of management of the project manager and the importance of stakeholder analysis. The power base of the project manager is evaluated and the use of influence discussed. The political activities that occur around resource control and decision-making is considered with reference to organizational culture. Guidelines are laid down for project managers regarding the management of political behavior. • The fourth section moves towards putting a framework there for project managers with reference to implications for project management success, the use of constructive political tactics and the adoption of appropriate political skills. • The fifth section tests assumptions made regarding possible problems areas for project managers in the context of organizational politics. Personal interviews were conducted with eight project managers in a development and management company and questions were designed around two themes, namely problems experienced on a more personal level and problems relating to the organizational environment. The current and ideal situations for each theme were discussed. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Organisasie politiek en die politiese omgewing van organisasies is onderwerpe wat uitgebreid nagevors en gedebateer is in die akademiese literatuur. Organisasies is nie altyd strategies gefokus op hierdie bestuursarea nie en is derhalwe nie altyd bewus van die negatiewe effek van organisasie politiek op die sukses van hul besigheid nie. Projekbestuur vind plaas binne hierdie politiese omgewing en is dus onderworpe aan die invloed daarvan. Die doel van hierdie studie was om aan projekbestuurders 'n mate van insig te verskaf met betrekking tot die aard van organisasie politiek en politiese gedrag, en om 'n beter begrip van die impak van hierdie konsepte op die projekbestuur proses te kweek. Die navorsing is in die vorm van 'n literatuurstudie rondom organisasie politiek en projekbestuur. Die studie word onderverdeel in vyf afdelings: • Eerstens word 'n oorsig van organisasie politiek verskaf, met spesifieke verwysing na die definisie van politiese gedrag, die dimensies van politiese gedrag en die politiese omgewing van organisasies. Voorbeelde van politiese gedrag word aangebied en die funksionele rol van politiek in organisasies word bespreek. • Die tweede afdeling handeloor die sosiale perspektief van projekbestuur in terme van die inherente aard van projekspanne, die werking van projekbestuur binne 'n matriks struktuur, en die leierskap vereistes van die projekbestuurder. Projekbestuur vaardighede en sukses maatstawwe word bestudeer. • Die derde afdeling fokus op projekbestuur binne die konteks van organisasie politiek: die bestuursareas van die projekbestuurder word weer beskou en die belangrikheid van insethouer-analise (stakeholders) word aangedui. Verder word die magsbasis van die projekbestuurder ge-evalueer en die aanwending van die proses van invloed word bespreek. Die politiese aktiwiteite wat gepaard gaan met hulpbron-beheer asook besluitneming word ondersoek, met verwysing na organisasie kultuur. Etlike riglyne met betrekking tot die bestuur van politiese gedrag word neergelê vir projekbestuurders. • Die vierde afdeling fokus op die daarstelling van 'n raamwerk vir projekbestuurders, wat onder andere verwys na implikasies vir projekbestuur sukses, die gebruik van konstruktiewe politiese tegnieke asook die aanwending van aanvaarbare politiese vaardighede. • Die vyfde afdeling behels die toetsing van etlike aannames wat gemaak word aangaande probleemareas vir projekbestuurders binne die konteks van organisasie politiek. Persoonlike onderhoude is gevoer met agt projekbestuurders, werksaam by 'n ontwikkelings- en bestuursmaatskappy. Die onderhoudsvrae was saamgestel rondom twee temas, naamlik: probleme wat ondervind word op 'n meer persoonlike vlak; en probleme wat verband jou met die organisasie omgewing. Die huidige asook die ideale situasie vir elke tema was ondersoek en weergegee.

Thesis (MBA) -- Stellenbosch University, 2007. / The regard for project management as a very effective toolset to handle the rapid changing business environment where organizations have to cope with globalisation, the creation and production of more innovative products in shorter time spans to remain competitive, has grown in popularity. The project management framework offers the organization time, cost, and quality management functions that high lights the project progress reporting to project stakeholders and decision makers. The organization is assured of a higher probability of project successes, and the creation and communication of the perception of project success, as experienced by all project stakeholders through a single point of accountability, and the inclusion of the client in the various stages of the project life cycle. Despite the highly regarded results, the project management paradigm promises its implementers, project management can fail to satisfy the expectations of the project stakeholders. Many authors and researchers alike have identified "leadership" as one of the critical dimensions of a project that can have a great influence on the success of projects. leadership as a concept has been taught by Aristotle many centuries ago to a select few in contrast today leadership is taught by thousands to masses of students at many intuitions. The perception of leadership has evolved over time and this democratisation of leadership has made the concept available to all, at all levels of the organizational structure. The successes of organizations in projects beyond the previously imagined and set boundaries of the past are ample proof of this. Leadership is the key to the creation of human capital through the application of project management.