The primary goal of this research is to provide quantitative information used for the implementation of project management attributes. Nineteen project management attributes and five project performance outcomes were investigated to examine their relationships. A series of statistical analyses were conducted to quantify the relationships between the implementation levels of the attributes and the probabilities for better project performance. The analyses utilized data from 212 projects collected by the Construction Industry Institute (CII) Benchmarking and Metric database from 2007 through 2010. The results showed that the beneficial effects of project management attributes varied depending on the implementation levels of project management attributes, the performance outcome type, and whether the project was conducted by the owner or contractor organization. Quantified analysis results were provided by this research. Project management attributes were identified as critical if they were found to be significantly related to a particular performance outcome. Minimum implementation levels were provided for these critical attributes, as were results covering the combined effects of the critical attributes on performance outcomes. Based on the analysis results, the research generated specific and quantitative information used in implementing project management attributes for better performance. This information will help practitioners achieve improved project performance in the most effective and efficient way, and thus it is the practical contribution of this research. From an academic point of view, this study designed a data analysis process by a series of statistical analysis methods which makes it possible to examine the relationships between project management attributes and various project performance outcomes in a quantitative manner. / text

For many years, government backed reports have continued to deplore the poor performance of the construction industry with many projects failing to exceed or live up to the expectations of clients. There is a common belief that the culture of the construction industry is one of the factors that has an impact on its performance. The culture of the construction industry at the project level is often associated with such attributes as fragmentation, antagonism, mistrust, poor communication, short-term mentality, blame culture, casual approaches to recruitment, machismo and sexism. These attributes are in turn associated with project outcomes like litigation, poor health and safety performance, and inferior quality. Whilst such associations are helpful to the extent that they focus attention on the failings of the industry, and point to aspects that need to be improved, they are arbitrary and often based on no more than anecdotal evidence, and as such do not provide a systematic basis for assessing the real impact of culture on performance. This research was thus undertaken to look for empirical evidence of a relationship between cultural orientations and project performance outcomes. Adopting social cognitive theory and defining culture as the unique configuration of solutions – embodied in attitudes, behaviours and conditions – that a construction project organisation and its members adopt in dealing with problems at the project level, a quantitative research methodology was employed in investigating the culture within the project coalition, also referred to in this thesis as the construction project organisation (CPO). CPOs were profiled to determine their cultural orientations. Several project performance indicators were also assessed and the relationships between these performance measures and the cultural orientations were examined. Analysis revealed five principal dimensions of culture along which project organisations differ. These dimensions are workforce orientation, performance orientation, team orientation, client orientation and project orientation. With the exception of performance and client orientation, the other dimensions of culture were found to be significantly associated with project performance outcomes. These associations were modelled using multiple regression, and from these models it can be inferred inter alia that projects with higher workforce orientation have better participant satisfaction and innovation and learning outcomes. Projects with higher team orientation have better participant satisfaction and health & safety and quality outcomes. Likewise projects with higher project orientation have better health & safety and quality outcomes. Although causality cannot be assumed, these findings support the thesis that culture matters. It is therefore recommended that project participants – and in particular contractors, devote more effort and resources towards improving the orientations of their CPOs in respect of the dimensions of culture identified as having significant association with project performance outcomes, particularly workforce, team and project orientations.

abstract: The current paradigm to addressing the marginal increases in productivity and quality in the construction industry is to embrace new technologies and new programs designed to increase productivity. While both pursuits are justifiable and worthwhile they overlook a crucial element, the human element. If the individuals and teams operating the new technologies or executing the new programs lack all of the necessary skills the efforts are still doomed for, at best, mediocrity. But over the past two decades researchers and practitioners have been exploring and experimenting with a softer set of skills that are producing hard figures showing real improvements in performance. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Construction 2014

Construction Project Procurement Methods (PMs) define the roles, relationships and responsibilities of project team members and the sequence of the activities required to construct or provide a facility. A number of different PMs have evolved over the years, but each is characterised by a different set of features upon which the criteria for selecting the most appropriate method to procure a given project must be based, if successful project performance (PP) is to be ensured. The use of procurement method selection criteria (PMSC) to inform clients’ decision on suitable PMs to adopt remains a recommended good practice in the construction industry. However, project clients in the Libya Construction Industry (LCI), continue to face great challenges when it comes to selecting the most appropriate PM for its projects. The general practice in this industry is largely dominated by a culture of clients’ reliance on their familiarity and experience with a particular method to inform their PM choice, with no consideration of the plethora of other PMs and use of rational approaches to aid in this decision-making. This procurement issue has long been recognised as a major contributory factor to the frequent time and cost overruns often experienced by projects in the LCI. Although the selection of an appropriate PM to procure any given project is known to result in success PP and (and vice versa), very little is known about the nature of this relationship from literature. Having persistently suffered a great deal of project failures over the years, the LCI stands to benefit from detailed knowledge and understanding of how exactly PM choice do actually influence PP. Stimulated by the dearth of this information, this thesis reports on a research investigation into this relationship with the aim of developing a model to explain the criteria functions in contributing to PP and their implications to PM selection practice in Libya. The methodological approach adopted for this research was the mixed method, i.e., using a combination of both quantitative and qualitative approaches. Following a critical review of the extant relevant literature, a number of relevant hypotheses were first formulated, together with a conceptual framework, to establish the theoretical basis underpinning this research, namely the relationship between the selection of PMs (based on PMSC) and PP. The primary data collection stage involved an initial field questionnaire survey aimed at identifying and confirming the key areas of the research inquiry that needs focusing on. This was followed by a semi-structured questionnaire and interview surveys. With the aid of SPSS and Excel, the collected data were analysed, followed by the development of a mathematical model (based on regression) that demonstrate the influence of PMSC on PP. Finally, the model was validated by expert interviews to test for its validity and reliability. The key findings of the research include the identification of DBB and DB selection criteria that contributes to PP. The distinct contribution to knowledge arising from this research includes the development of a regression model to demonstrate this relationship between PMSC and PP. The benefit of these outputs lies not only in the ability of LCI’s clients to make PM selection decisions much faster by virtue of the need for them to only focus on the criteria with significant influence on PP, they are also able to work out, in quantitative terms, the PP outcomes to be expected for each of the method being considered. This latter information would enable clients to compare the PP outcome values expected from their decisions to select DBB and DB, and then be able to conclude which of these two options represents a better procurement strategy for any given project at hand.

Motivated by scarce academic consideration of project management control frameworks, this article explores usage, value and structure of frameworks with a focus on the popular Control Objectives for IT and related Technology (CobiT) construct. We attempt to add to an empirically validated structure of internal control over IT project management by including CobiT's views on the intended domain of content. Results from the empirical survey indicate that the metrics suggested by CobiT are regarded as feasible and important by project management professionals, and are regularly used in controlling practice. Experience, regularity of significant projects and the size of the hosting organisations, however, seem to be stronger moderators of success rates than the use of a management control system with or without support of CobiT. CobiT's suggestions are of generic nature and in particular useful for programme performance management. The latent dimensions of project quality on process and activity levels were not validated and gaps to other project assessment models were identified.

Agile software development methods, characterized by delivering customer value via incremental and iterative time-boxed development processes, have moved into the mainstream of the Information Technology (IT) industry. However, despite a growing body of research which suggests that a predictive manufacturing approach, with big up-front specifications, detailed estimates, and speculative plans applicable to manufacturing domains, is the wrong paradigm for software development, many IT organizations are still hesitant to adopt agile approaches (Larman, 2004). This study extends research based on the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (Venkatesh, Morris, Davis, & Davis, 2003) into the domain of business processes. Specifically, processes related to the `behavioral intent' to adopt agile software development methods. Further, it investigated relationships between adoption and the impact on project performance attributes. A sample was obtained from a population of IT practitioners from within the IT industry. The sampling frame consisted of members from the global Software Process Improvement Network (SPIN) chapters, Agile User Groups, and I.T. industry conference promoters and presenters. Independent variables included performance expectancy, effort expectancy, social influence, and facilitating conditions, with the dependant variable being behavioral intent to adopt agile software development methods. The independent variable of agile software development adoption and dependent variables of project performance were also included as well as predictive models relating adoption to on-time delivery of project functionality and stakeholder satisfaction. The variables in the study were measured via a 65-item questionnaire based on previous scales, and tested to ensure validity and reliability. The research questions were developed to identify correlations between performance expectancy, effort expectancy, social influence, facilitating conditions, and the behavioral intent to adopt agile software development methods. Additional questions measured the correlation between adoption and key project performance attributes. The research found positive correlations between performance expectancy, effort expectancy, social influence, facilitating conditions, and behavioral intent to adopt agile software development methods, positive correlations between adoption and on-time delivery of project functionality and stakeholder satisfaction, and weak positive correlations with post delivery defects and project success rates.

Submitted by Nadir Basilio (nadirsb@uninove.br) on 2015-11-25T20:42:24Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Claudia Sofia Frias Pinto.pdf: 873576 bytes, checksum: 70bf6a30f4759f2761a1504fddb9fdca (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2015-11-25T20:42:24Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Claudia Sofia Frias Pinto.pdf: 873576 bytes, checksum: 70bf6a30f4759f2761a1504fddb9fdca (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015-06-15 / In this study I analyze the influence of national culture in project performance. Specifically, I examine if national culture influences project performance and which cultural dimensions affect project performance. Methodologically, I conducted an empirical study, based in a final sample of 271 project managers and project occurred in 39 different countries. The results showed that cultural dimensions, power distance and future orientation have a negative impact in project performance, and gender egalitarianism has a positive impact in project performance. This study has a theoretical and practical contribution. This study is intended, for one hand, to contribute to the advance of literature in project management and on the other, help project managers preparing for cultural diversity, increasingly common in the projects. / Neste estudo analisei a influência da cultura nacional no desempenho dos projetos. Especificamente, examinei se a cultura nacional influencia o desempenho dos projetos e que dimensões culturais afetam o desempenho dos projetos. Metodologicamente, realizei um estudo empírico, com uma amostra final de 271 gestores de projetos, e projetos ocorridos em 39 países diferentes. Os resultados mostraram que as dimensões culturais, distância ao poder e orientação futura têm um impacto negativo no desempenho dos projetos, e que o igualitarismo de gêneros tem um impacto positivo no desempenho dos projetos. Este estudo tem uma contribuição teórica e prática. Com este estudo pretendo, por um lado, contribuir para o avanço da literatura em Gestão de projetos e, por outro, ajudar os gestores de projetos a se prepararem para a diversidade cultural, cada vez mais frequente nos projetos.

Information systems (IS) development represents a significant area of research interest in the IS discipline. Despite this interest, IS development projects consistently fall short in delivering anticipated outcomes within time, quality and cost constraints. Attempts by researchers to uncover contributors to high failure rates are complicated by fragmented views of the nature of the problem. These range from challenges to the validity of performance reports to contesting the conceptualization of success. Furthermore, there is a tendency in practice to address immediate symptomatic problems of IS project failure rather than resolve the fundamental issues. Consequently, recent measures indicate that 48% of IS projects fail to meet time commitments, 33% exceed their budget, 32% don’t achieve their business objectives and 15% fail outright. This PhD thesis presents research to explore and offer explanatory theory of how culture and leadership are implicated in the performance of IS development projects. Importantly, IS development is positioned as a form of social interaction. Thus, an understanding of the social context and the situated meanings that arise through social interaction are necessary conditions to effectively explore this research topic. Within this context the study reveals the performative nature of IS development work and offers explanations for the actions of organizational leaders and IS technical specialists involved in IS development. An interpretive research paradigm and inductive reasoning were adopted for this research and understanding is developed through a hermeneutic mode of inquiry. Two IS projects responsible for delivering strategic benefit to an organization in the financial services sector are the two cases in this study. Qualitative data were collected through interviews, observation and documentary evidence between January 2017 and June 2017. The nature of the relationships between culture, leadership and performance in the course of IS development work was revealed through two analytical iterations. The first iteration used the theory of Cultural Implications in Information Systems Development as a structural framework to support a thematic analysis of the data. A second iteration used frame analysis as a theoretical foundation to examine the interplay of culture, leadership and performance through a within-case and cross-case analysis of the two cases. Key contributions from this research include the development of a conceptual model explaining cultural implications in IS development, the development of an explanatory theory of the entangled nature of culture and leadership and the performance of IS projects, and 11 propositions that offer a basis for testing the emergent theory in future empirical studies. The findings from the research also reveal the performative nature of IS development work and identify concepts important to organizational managers and IS technical specialists. While the theory emerged in the context of IS development projects and the concepts in the emergent theory are central to the practice of IS development, each could be equally relevant to other IS phenomena where culture, leadership and performance are implicated, such as IS management and offshoring. The grounding of theoretical concepts to empirical data enabled the application of the theory to practice; practical guidelines are offered in respect of the influences of culture and leadership on the performance of IS development projects. This research supports the suitability of the Cultural Dynamics Model as a sensitizing lens for data collection in interpretive studies where culture is implicated.

The construction industry is a complex sector that places high demands on project management, planning, and implementation. Significant progress has been made in recent decades regarding the delivery of extensive construction projects, including the adoption of new building techniques, improved risk management systems, and enhanced safety measures. However, a lack of efficiency persists in the construction industry in many countries. This is due to issues within projects, such as time and cost overruns, conflicts among stakeholders, limitations in productivity improvement, quality development, and inadequate customer satisfaction. Following this, many researchers and society at large have called for a change in attitudes, behavior, and practices to increase the chances of successful construction projects to improve the result of the final products. With increased complexity, uncertainty, and time constraints in construction projects, there has been a growing need for collaboration among various project stakeholders. The purpose of this study is to describe and explain the choices made by clients in the procurement process and what contractors prefer. Based on other studies finding that collaborative procurement procedures enhance project performance, this thesis wants to analyze clients’ and contractors’ views regarding collaborative procurement procedures. Additionally, moral-hazard is a component of procurement strategies and contracts, particularly in more complex transactions that involve interaction, which significantly affects the construction industry. Therefore, it is an important aspect to look at how the construction industry works to prevent the emergence of moral-hazard. Based on semi-structured interviews conducted with nine respondents, comprising of five respondents from the contractor side, three from the client side, and one consultant. It has provided insight into how collaboration and moral hazard are perceived. We can conclude that the client's choice of procedure in the procurement process is often closely linked to the selected form of contract. When clients select a form of contract or when contractors submit bids, it appears to be based on the company's expertise, tradition, or what best suits the project. Those who feel skilled or comfortable with partnering tend to choose partnering more frequently. The strategic choices are also shaped by a systematic and thoughtful decision-making process, consciously or unconsciously, to reduce the risk of opportunistic behavior that may occur.

‘Project performance’ is the metric of delivering project objectives. This research is motivated by levels of project failure and the purpose of the research is to investigate improved project performance. The scientific spectrum is considered; arguing project management as a sub-field of management science based in ‘design science’. Despite research since the 1950s, there is no established community paradigm for project management, illustrated by multiple ‘schools of thought’ failing to stimulate performance improvement. This is investigated with respect to the changing nature of projects and their management; application in numerous industrial sectors, across increasing scope of the product lifecycle (including service projects), and the changing role of project managers as value adding ‘implementers’ rather than status ‘reporters’. Methodology examines the community paradigm and identifies the lack of community paradigm and argues that gap spotting is not appropriate. Conducting research that fills knowledge gaps does not identify underlying issues and reinforces fundamental failings. Underlying assumptions are identified and challenged. Key characteristics are examined in the context of requirements of the community paradigm. The purpose of theory is to describe, explain and predict. Some techniques describe and explain. Few, if any, predict. This locates ‘performance prediction’ as the research issue and suggests it is a missing function for performance improvement. The research focus considers single tasks within a project network. A research model of early stage deviation from plan is developed from the literature on project pathogens and incubation processes. ‘Deviation lifecycle’ as a project function is identified as having no previous evidence in literature. This is developed into a practice model extending the role of failure modes and effects analysis (FMEA) and integrating weak signals and tipping point theory to test performance. Case studies examine representative application of the model and build on the previous cases to illustrate potential for practice. The case studies were reviewed by industrial experts. The changing role of project managers to value added implementers implies a need to improve performance. Research found potential to understand and predict early stage deviation and develops the deviation lifecycle and research model. Across the case studies the research model illustrated potential application. Practical implications indicate potential contribution of project management techniques based on prediction rather than traditional reporting. Developing the community paradigm based on design science is discussed as further work. The originality of the research challenges the lack of theoretical foundation for project management by discussion of the community paradigm and proposes design science as a candidate. The work identifies ‘prediction’ as a relevant but missing function from the project management ‘toolbox’, and introduces the concept of the deviation lifecycle and note no previous literature. The research develops an industrial research model that extends the application of FMEA to examine ‘performance’ and integrates weak signals and tipping point analysis to manage the resolution.