Project planning in the Architecture, Engineering and Construction (AEC) industry at present relies heavily on individual skills, experience and improvisation. In an attempt to increase predictability and efficiency, and to improve knowledge retention across projects, this thesis proposes a more systematic approach to project planning. It does so by introducing the notion of a meta-process model that embodies and cultivates the logic and intelligence of incremental and collaborative planning activities in a given domain. Planning tasks are encoded and enforced as a set of structured dialogues between project partners. To make this possible, a taxonomy extension to current workflow modeling technology is introduced. The concept of the chosen approach can thus be classified as process mediation through structured dialogues. It is applied to the particular example case of Design-Build project delivery for which a detailed workflow model was created. This model serves as a partial instantiation of the larger Project Management Body Of Knowledge, an abstract framework put forward by the US Project Management Institute. A prototype system architecture is devised as an extension to an existing collaborative virtual environment developed in the European e-HUBs research project. This experimental Web-based platform supports the enactment of workflows that are expressed in the standardized syntax of the neutral process definition language XPDL. The functional richness of the structured dialogue extensions is demonstrated through a dialogue management prototype developed as a separate MS Access database application.

<p>The paper investigates the challenges of consolidating beneficiary participation in the planning and implementation of projects, the effects on project outcomes and the implications for community based development. It examines one of such projects in Sekondi- Takoradi Metropolis of Ghana by assessing the entire planning and implementation of the project, the participatory mechanisms used and the current state of the project in terms of its sustainability. The paper critically investigates a broad arena of literature relating to the evolution of the participatory concept and its relation to development planning and management. It further explores some of the critiques leveled against the concept. The paper argues further that beneficiary participation in Community Based Development Projects (CBDPs) in Ghana is a challenge because of the internal rigidities associated with the use of the concept. It explains through evidence from the analyzed data that understanding the strategies for the participatory process as well as the socio dynamics of the beneficiaries involved is important in ensuring positive project outcomes.</p>

The purposes of this study were to design and to evaluate an online system designed to enhance communication skills and project tracking of computer software courses at Ball State University (BSU). Student Online Project Planning and Tracking System (SOPPTS) was designed and field tested to provide real-time feedback from faculty on student progress, offer online guidance for software project planning, produce tracking automation, and facilitate communication between faculty and students.SOPPTS technology was designed under the supervision of W. Zage and D. Zage, professors in the Computer Science Department at BSU.Participants in this study included six BSU undergraduate students, six BSU graduate students and seven BSU faculty members. Each participant was interviewed for one hour in an instructor's office in the BSU Computer Science Department. With the participants' permission, each interview was audio-taped and coded with a letter and number.Data evaluation consisted of narrative summaries of the interviews, an analysis of the evidence in terms of the research questions and the compilation of data to show both emerging themes and major trends.Analysis of the data showed that learning was definitely enhanced, and that faculty evaluations were also strongly enhanced. Participants recommended more SOPPTS applications, both industrial and academic. The emerging themes showed that faculty and students:1) Had more and easier access to information; students' work was better organized; student team spirit grew; students were more accurately evaluated by instructors;2) Had more efficient methods for report submission and record keeping; students interaction with teachers increased; students found SOPPTS better than email;3) Students and teachers could work from various locations, with greater access to record retrieval and submission of reports, so that documents submitted were available to all instead of getting lost;4) Students were motivated by the nature of online task assignment and tracking because of greater accountability; faculty members were happy to see students' project progress online; 5) Improved time and project management through greater awareness of milestones, deadlines and date/ time "stamping" of report submissions.Major trends show that improved access to information and communication facilitated learning, and that planning and tracking skills improved. / Department of Educational Leadership

Information system projects are gaining immense popularity among the manufacturing organisations across the globe. Due to the challenges associated with the information system project management with the manufacturing organisation, organisations have started focusing on technology-oriented solutions such as Information system (IS) projects. However, the success or failure of these projects is ultimately dependent on a range of critical success factors. The purpose of the research was to investigate the Critical Success Factors (CSF) in an Information System (IS) project using the case of Wartsila, a manufacturing organisation operating in marine and energy sector. For this purpose, a qualitative research method was adopted with semi-structured interviews carried out with the IT manager, the Integration Manager (Int. M), and the project teams involved in the project. Thematic analysis, which was chosen as the appropriate data analysis method, assisted in the identification of several codes that were categorized and finally guided to the extraction of seven (7) key themes. A conceptual framework was drawn from the secondary literature review containing CSF within the two major categories such as subjective and objective CSFs. The set of subjective CSFs included project management and team member, commitment and management support, training, change management perceptions, communication, and project planning and management. On the other side, the set of objective CSFs included the process of redesigning, technological difficulties in system design, costs, time engineering, and quality.   These literature-based factors were simultaneously analysed by the responses of the interviewees, ultimately ending up in the development of a modified and comprehensive framework for the manufacturing organisation. The findings revealed the significance of subjective factor in shaping the accomplishment of objective factors, drive the project towards the success. These findings have further recommended the need for culturally sensitive ‘training’ and integration of formal and informal ‘communication’ methods for the success of the projects in the manufacturing organisations.

Byggbranschen är en konservativ bransch som länge har setts som motsträvig och traditionell. Detta har resulterat i en långsam utveckling av kommunikationsmönster och former för ledning och samverkan i branschen. En god kommunikation är en förutsättning för lyckade byggprojekt, varför det är av stort intresse att säkerställa en sådan. Denna rapport undersöker hur projekteringsbranschens kommunikation ser ut i dag och hur denna kan förbättras med hjälp av nätverksbaserade agila projektlednings- och kommunikationssystem. Den utreder även hur de i dag tillgängliga systemen anses fungera och dessa kan utveckla kommunikationen inom byggprojektering. Detta görs genom att studera hur användare av det agila projektlednings- och kommunikationssystemet Jira upplever att det fungerar och används. För att undersöka detta användes en kvalitativ metod i form av intervjuer med projektledare, BIM-samordnare och konsulter vid projekten. Denna intervjustudie kompletterades med en kvantitativ undersökning med ett internetbaserat formulär. Båda dessa studier är baserade på en inledande litteraturstudie. Genom att jämföra och analysera de två studierna har slutsatser dragits kring dagens och framtidens kommunikation. De visar att det finns en positiv inställning hos respondenterna till att använda nätverksbaserade kommunikationssystem hos respondenterna. Man kan se att kommunikationen inom byggprojektering kan förbättras och effektiviseras med hjälp av den typ av nätverksbaserade kommunikationssystem som behandlas i rapporten. Baserat på dessa resultat samt tidigare forskning kan man dra slutsatsen att detta nya kommunikationssätt kan leda till en sänkning av både kostnad och tidsåtgång vid byggprojekt. Utöver dessa frågeställningar och slutsatser har studien resulterat i ett antal rekommendationer för det företag som arbetet har skrivits för, Plan B AB. Dessa rekommendationer bildar ett underlag för en ytterligare utveckling av den Jira som används i deras nuvarande projekt vid Ångströmlaboratoriet. / The construction industry is a conservative industry that has for a long time been seen as recalcitrant and traditional, which has resulted in a slow development in business communication systems. This report covers how communication in project planning looks like today. The report also sheds light on opinions this branch of industry has of agile project leading- and communication systems. The study that was performed provided information on how the users view Jira, the agile project leading and communication system, and how it operates. To examine this a qualitative investigation was done in the form of interviews with project leaders, coordinators and consultants. To achieve a somewhat wider response group a survey was conducted through an Internet based questionnaire. The purpose of the study was to identify how coworkers in a Jirabased project feel about the program’s usefulness, if it helps or hinders productivity, if there are any possible features that need improving, and what the users think about the work environment of Jira. The result of the study was a positive opinion of both Jira as a software program and the overall change in project communication opportunities. The study also provided ideas on how to adapt Jira to the project planning branch of the construction industry. In addition, the study also resulted in suggestions on how the company can improve their usage of Jira in the case study for the thesis.

I de flesta offentliga organisationer arbetas idag i projekt¬arbets¬form. Dessa organisationer måste ta hänsyn till att projekt inte längre är ett undantag och skapa strukturer och metoder för koordination av projektverksamheten. Vid projektplaneringen kan ett antal olika metoder användas för att undvika fel och brister som lätt uppstår när flera personer är inblandade. Fel och brister gynnar inte den inre effektiviteten. Ett likartat arbetssätt, ibland i form av projektmodell, kan användas för ökad kontroll av projektarbetsformen. Projektmodellen medför struktur och rutiner som förbättrar utnyttjandet av projekt¬arbets¬formen. Syftet med denna magisteruppsats i industriell projektledning är att undersöka och be¬skriva om projektledarna inom offentliga organisationer använder metoder som bidrar till att öka den inre effektiviteten i projektledarens projektplanering. Undersökningsmetoden är av kvalitativ art. Den empiriska datainsamlingen har skett genom telefonintervjuer eller besöksintervjuer med tolv respondenter fördelade på sex av Sveriges länsstyrelser. Med utgångspunkt från undersökningen har vi konstaterat att den inre effektiviteten på¬ver¬kas av i vilken mån metoder för projektplanering används. För att öka projektets inre effek¬tivitet och förankringen av projektet bör intressentanalys och kravanalys föregå den över¬enskommelse som resulterar i en tydlig beskrivning av projektets mål. Vi har funnit att ansvar och befogenheter måste anges tydligare än vad som är brukligt idag för att öka den inre effektiviteten samt fördelar med att placera projekten utanför den vanliga linjeorganisationen. Beträffande kommunikation behöver fler rapporter skrivas i avsikt att gynna lärandet inom organisationen och finnas tillgängliga i större utsträckning. Den inre effektiviteten kan öka om projektledaren förutom kunskap i sakämnen också besitter kunskap i metoder för projektplanering. En generell slutsats är att en projekt¬modell och/eller en väl genomförd och strukturerad planering gynnar den inre effek¬tiviteten eftersom problem och konflikter minimeras när så sker. / The work in most public sectors today is sometimes done in project work form. These organizations have to realize that projects are no longer an exception, but rather the norm, and create structure and methods to coordinate the projects. There are some different methods that can be used during project planning to avoid mistakes and shortcomings, which can easily happen when many people are involved. Mistakes and shortcomings do not improve the efficiency of the organization. A similar way of working, often in the way of a project model, can be used to increase the control of the project. The project model intro¬duces structure and routine which in turn increases the use of the project work form. The purpose of this master thesis in Industrial Project Management is to examine and describe if project managers within the public sector use methods of project planning to increase the efficiency of the organization. The research method is of qualitative conduction. The empirical data collection has been done through phone interviews and personal interviews with 12 respondents representing six of Sweden’s county ministries. Starting with the study, we concluded that the efficiency of an organization depends on which level of methods the organization use for project planning. To increase a project’s efficiency and to attain organizational commitment a stakeholder analyse and analysis of requirements should be done before the agreement of the project result. The agreement must show a detailed description of the project goal. We have found that responsibility and duties have to be more clearly specified to increase the efficiency. If the project is organized outside the normal guidelines we have found an improvement of the efficiency. To improve the learning within the organization more reports need to be done and be easily accessible. The efficiency of the organization will improve if the project manager not only is know¬ledgeable about the project idea but also has good knowledge about project planning methods. A general conclusion is that problems and conflicts are minimized if the project is well planned and structured or a project model is used. In consequence of those actions the project efficiency will increase.

Masters in Public Administration - MPA / The paper investigates the challenges of consolidating beneficiary participation in the planning and implementation of projects, the effects on project outcomes and the implications for community based development. It examines one of such projects in Sekondi- Takoradi Metropolis of Ghana by assessing the entire planning and implementation of the project, the participatory mechanisms used and the current state of the project in terms of its sustainability. The paper critically investigates a broad arena of literature relating to the evolution of the participatory concept and its relation to development planning and management. It further explores some of the critiques leveled against the concept. The paper argues further that beneficiary participation in Community Based Development Projects (CBDPs) in Ghana is a challenge because of the internal rigidities associated with the use of the concept. It explains through evidence from the analyzed data that understanding the strategies for the participatory process as well as the socio dynamics of the beneficiaries involved is important in ensuring positive project outcomes. / South Africa

Extract, Transformation, and Load (ETL) system is responsible for the extraction of data from several sources, their cleansing, conforming and insertion into a data warehouse. The thesis is focused on building ETL methodology to better understanding of ETL process and its application in the real environment. I've worked on project "BI Cookbook" with Clever Decision, a software consulting company that specializes in Business Intelligence. The aim was to create ETL part of the BI methodology. This methodology has been designed to provide ease of use, flexible and extensible material for the purpose of building ETL solution. The main goal of this work is to introduce created ETL methodology, all of its components and the way in which it could be used. Following goal is to discuss options of its implementation and modification for the wide range of use. The main contribution of this work is to provide ideas of creating and implementing ETL methodology or ideas for creating methodology in general. The thesis is divided into three parts. The first theoretical part deals with basic definition, architecture and implementing of ETL system. The second part presents the proposed methodology. The last part contains of the possible options for implementation a modification of the methodology.

The content of this diploma thesis is an analysis of the current state of management of international projects in a multinational IT company, which should lead to the selection and implementation of an appropriate project management tool supporting planning and project management using agile methods Scrum and Kanban. The focus of this thesis is the actual implementation of the selected tool and its setting.

The diploma thesis deals with the proposal of the future spin-off of the company, which will be managed by the project approach. The theoretical part presents the basic concepts of project management and legal regulation of spin-off. The analytical part focuses on the two previous spin-offs and the analyses needed for project management are made. Based on the analytical part, the design part contains the project proposal of the branch. The project identification and planning phases are made, the course of implementation and completion phases is indicated.