Academic research is increasingly conducted by teams rather than by individual investigators. Researchers show more interest in studying the effectiveness of such teams. Evidence shows that team science leads to publications which have higher impact ratings and more patents. However, teams conducting academic research are facing various difficulties that prevent them from being successful. This thesis examines factors influencing the effectiveness of academic research project teams and explores how team role theory can help. Data collection was conducted in the University of Ottawa in the form of 5 standardized open-ended interviews with two academic research project teams and complemented by a validated questionnaire. Both teams were in the field of health science while team A had 13 – 20 members and team B had 6 members. We adopted a multi-method qualitative-dominant comparative research design and considered each team as a unit of analysis. We inductively generated codes and used the input-process-output (IPO) theory and the team role experience and orientation (TREO) theory as overarching deductive models to analyze data. Findings show that the IPO and TREO theories are helpful in studying the effectiveness of academic research project teams. The findings suggest that further research on academic research project teams using the IPO and the TREO theories is necessary, especially on the topic of team role complementarity. They also suggest that project management training on topics such as project planning and risk management can enhance academic research project teams’ effectiveness.

Thesis (MTech (Business Administration))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2005 / Project risk management is concemed with identifying, assessing and responding to uncertainties which could impact project outcomes. These impacts might be positive or negative, although the tendency in business has been to focus on the negative - or downside - risks, Le., those risks which could be potentially detrimental to project outcomes. Risk management requires an investment in time, effort and cost. For this reason, it has to be efficient if it is going to make business-sense. If it can be shown that risk management plays a positive role in supporting successful project delivery, then the case for investing in risk management will be validated. This study focuses on two projects within Old Mutual, to investigate the link between risk management and project success. Both projects had been approved by the company's Strategic Investment Committee (SICOM), which required that they conform to various governance criteria, including that their risks be managed according to a specified process. One of the projects - CRAFT - was deemed by its stakehoiders to have delivered successfully, while the other - SSA - was perceived to have had mixed results. As a precursor to the study, an extensive review of the current literature on project risk management was undertaken. The literature was found to be largely consistent in its definition of project risk management, and to be concerned mainly with developing the processes and techniques for improving risk management in the live project environment. Based on the literature, it was possible to develop an analytical framework for use as a generic tool in evaluating the role which effective risk management practice could have on project success.

Orientador: Ariovaldo Denis Granja / Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Faculdade de Engenharia Civil, Arquitetura e Urbanismo / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-26T04:56:35Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Oliva_CarolinaAsensio_M.pdf: 2146381 bytes, checksum: f58bd1032ae5265e3d04c8a5e650aa48 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014 / Resumo: Tradicionalmente, a entrega de empreendimentos da construção civil com maior valor agregado por meio da elaboração do projeto esbarra nas restrições estabelecidas pelos investidores (construtoras, incorporadoras), além das dificuldades impostas por um processo de desenvolvimento do produto altamente fragmentado e onde os interesses individuais das partes dificultam a possibilidade de colaboração mútua entre todos os envolvidos. Somando-se a isso, objetivos, meios e restrições mudam naturalmente durante a definição do projeto até que todos estejam alinhados e mutuamente consistentes entre si. Essas características fazem com que a aplicação do Target Value Design (TVD), - uma prática de gestão que busca fazer das restrições de custos do cliente indutores de criatividade de projeto - uma importante ferramenta para incentivar mudanças. Diante disso, o objetivo desta pesquisa é desenvolver uma proposta de integração do TVD na gestão do processo de projeto em empreendimentos da construção civil voltados para habitação no Brasil. O método de pesquisa pode ser dividido em duas etapas: estudo de caso exploratório, realizado em construtora e em escritório de arquitetura, e a segunda etapa que reúne dois estudos de caso em duas construtoras. A proposta utiliza os princípios do TVD, e os divide em três níveis de colaboração entre os agentes envolvidos na gestão do processo de projeto. A aplicação da proposta demanda um diagnóstico inicial, para que as empresas elaborarem um plano de ação a fim de propor mudanças no modelo tradicional. A contribuição deste trabalho é discutir as restrições de custo como parâmetro indutor de criatividade e maior entrega de valor para o usuário final, em ambientes pouco colaborativos / Abstract: Traditionally, the product delivery with higher benefits, has restrictions imposed by the investors (building companies, main contractors), in addition to the difficulties imposed by a highly fragmented product development process, where individual interests difficult the possibility for collaboration between all involved. Furthermore, objectives, means and restrictions change naturally during design definition until everything is aligned e consistent between one another. These characteristics point out the Target Value Design (TVD) ¿ a management practice that seeks to turn the client's cost restrictions into inputs for design creativity ¿ an important tool to incentive changes. The objective of this research is to develop a proposal for TVD integration, in the design process management for construction housing products in Brazil. The research method has two phases: an exploratory case study, carried out in both in a construction company and an architecture's office. The second phase gathers two case studies in two construction companies. This proposal uses TVD principles, divided into three levels of collaboration of the actors involved in the design process management. This application demands an initial diagnosis, so the companies can elaborate an action plan for offer initial changes in the traditional model. The research's contribution is to discuss the cost restrictions as trigger for creativity and higher value products for final users, in a non-collaborative environment / Mestrado / Arquitetura, Tecnologia e Cidade / Mestra em Arquitetura, Tecnologia e Cidade

M.Comm. / This study consists of two parts. There is a theory part and a research part. The first part of the theory encompasses effectiveness and efficiency of project management within the telecommunication company. The theory focuses on project management in general and the management tasks of the project manager that can improve the effectiveness and efficiency. This part focuses on projects versus operations, the flow of power, organisational structure, projects versus functional management, delegation, project life cycle, formal and informal project management, the use of computers, quotations, quality, the project manager and the law. The second part of the theory focuses on management tasks of the project manager such as attributes and skills, the task of the project manager, project planning, co-operation, meetings, leadership, communication, conflicts, co-ordination and motivation. The research is focused on the effectiveness and efficiency of project management within the telecommunication company. The final part gives suggestions to solve all the problems that are present in the company.

M.Ing. / It is of cardinal importance to accept that failure is a fundamental part of every day life. The difference is however, that one does not only need to learn from ones own failures, but also from others’ failures. This is similar to the situation of not working harder, but working smarter. There are several factors within the project environment that can cause a project to fail, but once these factors have been identified the project manager can implement “preventive maintenance” to ensure that these factors do not affect the project. Further investigations on a recently failed project and questionnaires set-up by the author confirm the factors contributing to project failure as discussed in the literature case study. One way to manage these factors is by means of proper project management and risk management, which is a sub-set of project management. This dissertation highlights certain problem areas that can hinder project success and provides recommendations to achieve project success.

M.Ing. (Engineering Management) / Risk and uncertainty are very closely linked; they are recognized as threats arising from unclear causes and effects of the project. Risk and uncertainty management has always been acknowledged as a very important aspect of project management and is mostly used to accomplish project objectives. These objectives are; quality, cost, time, safety and environmental sustainability. A majority of researchers have focused on other characteristics of risks and uncertainty management rather than a comprehensive method which encompasses developing risk management plan, identify, and analyze the likelihood of its occurrence and consequence should it happen. The common challenges still experienced in project environment are; use of improper project management methodology, stake holder interference in the decision making process, complexity of the project, and changing requirements and management. This study seeks to look at how risk and uncertainty can be successfully managed within project environment. Through case studies this research will also look at how does improper risk management plan affect the project, and the consequences of stakeholder interference in the decision making process. The report presents project risk management approach of two projects carried out in the same organisation. The project A was executed by a project manager from the Project Management Office (PMO) in accordance with the project management methodology, while the execution of project B was highly influenced by a client/sponsor with no regard of the approved project management methodology. The selected projects both involved equipment replacement in which the main deliverables are supply and delivery of the final product. A description of the project risk management approach and analysis of data collected for each case study are followed by a comparison of two project risk management processes applied in case studies. This study will finally draw the conclusion and make recommendations based on its findings.

M.Ing. / Housing is the core infrastructure on which all other infrastructure like electricity, roads, water and sanitation depend. The escalation of public demonstrations by communities against the slow delivery and poor quality of housing projects in 2006 indicates that housing is a very sensitive issue that also involves a lot of politics. Most disadvantaged communities in South Africa lack even the most basic infrastructure like water. For any community to function properly and be successful, the core infrastructure must be in place. The core infrastructure consists of housing, roads and storm-water, water and sanitation and electricity and other auxiliary infrastructure include social services, safety and security. Government in South Africa is facing the challenges of delivering on promises and programmes from election campaigns and the mandate of the community. Government set national targets on the delivery of infrastructure services by focussing on water, electricity and sanitation. The national target was set to provide universal access to electricity services by 2012. The housing backlog in South Africa was chosen as a topic for this dissertation because of the many challenges and the variants that the project team comes across with each project. Project management involves managing projects according to specifications, within budget and delivering the end-product on time. Delivering completed housing projects to communities is a very challenging task as demonstrated by the many late or stalled housing projects in municipalities. This dissertation addresses the challenges facing the National Department of Housing as well as municipalities in delivering good quality accommodation to the poor communities.

M.Tech. / In the volatile telecommunication industry, innovation is the key to success. Mobile Telephone Network South Africa (MTN SA) needs to launch new products and services consistently to stay on the competitive edge. Consequently, effective project management becomes the key to gaining the competitive advantage by turning new product or service concepts into reality. According to Nokes and Kelly (2007:153–156), there is a high correlation between project success and effective project scope management. The effectiveness of project scope management can drastically affect the success of projects, as changes to the project scope may severely affect the project value creation, timeline, quality and cost. Accordingly, high project scope management maturity would contribute tremendously to the effectiveness of project management. The purpose of this present research is to define a roadmap to guide MTN’s Business Optimisation (BO) department to project scope management excellence. To meet this aim, the researcher utilises the concept of a Project Management Maturity Model (PMMM), as a guideline for the creation of a project scope management maturity model. The created project scope management maturity model is then utilised to provide an effective means to measure MTN SA’s project scope management maturity and identify the gaps prohibiting MTN SA from project scope excellence (Kerzner, 2004:193). Based on the literature review on the elements of project scope excellence, this paper suggests that there is a general misunderstanding regarding the definition of maturity. Many believe that process rigorousness indicates maturity, and have forgotten the criticality of the organisational culture that fosters an environment for project scope excellence and the effective use of the project scope process. iii This research offers a comparative study on the most popular and effective maturity models in the market, to identify the models that truly contribute to project scope management success and excellence. Finally, the research tailors the models to a project scope management focused maturity model, to assess MTN SA’s project scope management maturity from all aspects, and proposes a roadmap toward project scope management excellence.

In a fiercely competitive and changing environment most companies employ project management as a strategic tool to respond to the changing business environment and to outperform their competitors, yet the project management maturity level and the Project Success rates for the particular company is not always known. The main objective of this research was to determine whether a higher project management maturity level would go hand in hand with a higher project performance level. To assist in the project management maturity assessment of organisations in South Africa, a shortened version of Harold Kerzner’s project management maturity model was used in the empirical research. Regression analysis was used to determine the correlation between the maturity level and actual project performance of the surveyed organisations. Non-empirical research into the fields of Project Management Benchmarking, Project Management Maturity and Project Success were used to motivate the findings of the empirical research. Whilst conducting the empirical research, assessment and analysis, it was identified that most organisations operate at different project management maturity levels and that there is a relatively strong correlation between the maturity level and Project Success. The analysis of the data indicated that a significant opportunity exists to improve project management maturity within South African organisations and a number of recommendations were made in that regard. / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / unrestricted

Today, organisations are increasingly using a variety of project management methodologies to effect organisational change. However, appropriate and thorough management of organisational change within the project environment is not inherent in the mechanistic nature of traditional project management, which focuses on the creation of a temporary organisation around a unique organisational issue, with the primary emphasis on the achievement of project milestones, cost and quality parameters. Usually, a change management imperative is not included in the project management methodology and it is therefore neglected, which has a negative impact on the outcome and/or longevity of the project. It was therefore important to identify what the elements of change dynamics in the project management domain are across each project phase in order to assist project managers and teams to manage change dynamics consciously and diligently during the life cycle of the project. The research problem and objectives of the study were informed by a comprehensive literature study, which revealed a need for the development of an assessment tool containing the elements of change dynamics across the four stages of the project life cycle. Triangulation was used to ensure the integrity of the study. This included defining change management elements within the project management domain on the basis of a comprehensive literature study, administering the Delphi technique and applying Lawshe’s content validity methodology. The DeVellis scale development methodology was then applied to the resulting draft assessment tool for the next phase of the research project. The second phase of testing of the diagnostic tool exposed the ‘change management measurement tool’ to the views and opinions of two target population groups, namely some South African and some international project managers with various experience levels from different economic sectors. Various iterations of exploratory factor analysis indicated the primary factors for each of the four phases of the project life cycle whilst identifying the most important change management elements to be retained in the final assessment tool. Item-scale and reliability analysis, together with Tucker’s phi results, confirmed the reliability, internal consistency and structure of the assessment tool, which is comprised of 103 items. Highly intercorrelated items in each of the four project life cycle sections of the assessment tool, namely the conception/initiation, planning, implementation and post-implementation phases were indicated by Cronbach alpha coefficients of 0.937, 0.974, 0.931 and 0.875 respectively. The results of this study contribute to the application of organisational behaviour techniques in the field of project management because the study provides an assessment tool to measure change dynamics during a project’s life cycle. The aim of this study, to contribute to the body of knowledge by developing an assessment tool to link the existing theories of change management/change dynamics to the constructs and dimensions of project management and, more specifically, to the four stages of a project life cycle, has been achieved. The assessment tool that was developed in the course of this study can serve as both a diagnostic tool and a checklist which project managers can use to ensure that sufficient focus is placed on the change management imperative as part of the necessary project management methodology during a project’s life cycle. / Thesis (PhD (Organizational Behaviour))--University of Pretoria, 2008. / Human Resource Management / PhD / unrestricted