The need for good quality project scheduling methods arises in many fields such as construction, manufacturing, and military operations, among others. In this thesis, we develop a solution methodology which determines the sequence in which the activities of the project must be processed and the resource allocation to each activity in the project to minimize the makespan of the project. We consider projects whose activities' durations are defined by convex, non-increasing time-resource trade-off functions and whose activities are not pre-emptable (i.e., once some amount of resource has been allocated to an activity, this resource level may not change while the activity is processed). The solution methodology first finds all potentially optimal sequences for a given project. However, rather than considering all possible sequences, we use special relationships between certain pairs activities to determine a priori how these pairs will be sequenced in relation to each other. Then, the optimal resource allocations are determine for each sequence and the solution with the smallest makespan is selected. / Master of Science

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The introduction of technology-based tools into developing countries is usually impeded by a number of potential problems. The problems become murkier when the context of the issue, such as external debt management, where technology is to be used, does not have a standard textbook of rules and procedures to follow. The principle problems encountered during the course of our research for this thesis hinged the issue of possible inapplicability of information technology (IT), especially information and decision support systems (I/DSS). This is also the case for other tools and techniques built and used by developed countries in the developing world. The great deal of difference in the context of use; content of the systems; and the attitudes of the parties involved in the process forms the basis for our argument. The research was intended to draw on the lessons learned by the Cabinet Information and Decision Support Center (IDSC) during the introduction I/DSS for improving the decision making process in developing countries. Moreover, the research intended to tackle the issue of using I/DSS in a totally new context, other than for very structured purposes such as manufacturing and the like, and a challenging environment such as those in developing countries where difficulties of implementation and use are more in context, content and cultural issues than technological ones. The research would then show implications, identify problems and challenges and try to develop generalizations and recommendations. The research, since its initial phases, had to consider the forces of centralization versus decentralization and the organizational structure of decision making especially at the top level. Other issues such as I/DSS project planning and implementation; organizational dynamics and the research at the organizational level related to national policy; and technical information systems development were taken into consideration. This experience could be viewed as a documentation phase where the Egyptian Cabinet IDSC and the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) together hove built, implemented and sustained state-of-the-art I/DSS in the process of establishing a powerful Egyptian debt management office. The analysis of these experiences displays many lessons for the implementation of sophisticated systems under conditions of extreme difficulty. It offers insight into a number of problems that concern designers, implementors, users, and researchers in I/DSS use in managing development planning and socio-economic change especially in developing countries. It also delves into important aspects related to project planning and implementation, organizational dynamics and the effective use of accurate, timely and relevant information in development planning. We conclude this thesis with on analytical framework that gives detailed methods and guidelines for future implementation of similar programs in developing countries that might wish to benefit from the experience of the Cabinet of Egypt IDSC.

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This thesis deals with the design and implementation of a web application, which is created for project planning support, building up schedules and human resource management. This is related to a project planning in a specific company, which is dealing with web and marketing solutions. This thesis describes theoretical bases, analysis of a company, design and implementation of the web application, its evaluation and propositions, what includes expansion of functionality of existing information system of the company.

This thesis addresses localization project Reeses for company Autodesk. It analyzes the options of Alpha Ltd. to participate in its execution. It proposes technical and organizational actions using project management methods. The outcome is a set of plans for management and course of the project.

<p>The purpose of this study is to determine if Virtual Reality safety training is more effective at teaching fall protection safety than traditional methods of instruction. A literature review of previous research was conducted and a theoretical framework and methodology was developed to test the two groups for this study. The research design is a difference-in-differences method comparing the pre-test and post-test scores of the participants of each group. There will be other small pieces of analysis that will be done to further understand the results of the data collection. The data will be analyzed and interpreted to better understand how the research question was answered in comparison to previous work and the theoretical framework. Finally, other questions that arose during the process will be addressed and future areas for more research will be defined.</p>

<p>The study of the cultures has been a primary focus of sociology, psychology and anthropology since their inception. Increasing globalization has brought the attention of academics and practitioners to the study of national cultures and their differences into the management area. Likewise, the parallel trend towards running some business through projects has brought broader perspectives such as national cultures into the project management field. Recent academic literature demonstrated that national culture has a major impact on management practices. However, the element of national culture is elusively described in the project management field. No extensive tests were found on the comparison of the project planning among countries, which could help to establish relationship between national cultures and project planning capabilities. Using GLOBE study to capture national cultures and Project Management Planning Quality (PMPQ) model to capture project planning approach and organizational planning support, this paper addresses this gap by comparing national culture, project planning and organizational project planning support across four different countries: Malaysia, Japan, Sweden and Israel. The findings of this thesis are that there are both similarities and differences in project planning between different countries. In organizational project planning support practices, two clusters were identified. It attempts to answer questions about the relevance of culture to project planning and concludes with implications to project managers.</p>

The study of the cultures has been a primary focus of sociology, psychology and anthropology since their inception. Increasing globalization has brought the attention of academics and practitioners to the study of national cultures and their differences into the management area. Likewise, the parallel trend towards running some business through projects has brought broader perspectives such as national cultures into the project management field. Recent academic literature demonstrated that national culture has a major impact on management practices. However, the element of national culture is elusively described in the project management field. No extensive tests were found on the comparison of the project planning among countries, which could help to establish relationship between national cultures and project planning capabilities. Using GLOBE study to capture national cultures and Project Management Planning Quality (PMPQ) model to capture project planning approach and organizational planning support, this paper addresses this gap by comparing national culture, project planning and organizational project planning support across four different countries: Malaysia, Japan, Sweden and Israel. The findings of this thesis are that there are both similarities and differences in project planning between different countries. In organizational project planning support practices, two clusters were identified. It attempts to answer questions about the relevance of culture to project planning and concludes with implications to project managers.

Abstract Recently, the engineering scale has been generating larger and larger, and the engineering content tends to be more complicated as a result of the rapid development of engineering techniques. There were so many defects incurred in traditional contracting method by separating and entrusting design and construction service work to different contractors. The owner of petrochemical industry therefore tends to adopt ¡§design-build contracts¡¨ in order to reduce engineering management manpower, shorten work duration, clarify engineering obligation and liability, advance engineering quality as well as save engineering cost. Engineering contractors have to go through the proposal preparation process and then the open bid or individual negotiation to bid for ¡§design-build contract¡¨. After being awarded, the successful contractors have to establish the objectives of projects as per contract and exert management expertise to enable the plant-building work being completed on schedule and under the fixed budget. And then hand over the plant to owner in smooth process and achieve the objectives simultaneously. Through literature review, theoretic structure of petrochemical plant¡¦s design-build projects and practical cases, this research integrates the theory of project management and sums up seven management methods as follows: (1) Proposal preparation; (2) Contract signing; (3) Project planning; (4) Project execution; (5) Project control; (6) Handing over engineering; and (7) Project closed-out for engineering contractors. These comprehensive management methods are aimed to achieve the five goals of engineering project, i.e. quality, schedule, cost, safety and the interaction with owner. Finally, the research makes some conclusions and recommendations to which the contractors can refer in undertaking design-build projects in the future.