When an inexperienced nurse project manager is assigned to serve as a project manager for health information technology (HIT) tools, there is increased risk the project will not be completed on time, within budget, and in scope. An identified business need at a large military treatment facility was an educational tool to bridge the gap between nursing informatics and project management. The scholarly project was a Nursing Informatics Project Management Guidebook, which served as an educational tool to increase nurses' knowledge to serve in the HIT project manager role. With a quality improvement methodology, the outcome and impact sequence logic model was applied as the framework. The target population was the Clinical Informatics Sub-Committee, which was a multidisciplinary working group. The Nursing Informatics Project Management Guidebook included an introduction to nursing informatics, project management standards, 9 current scholarly articles, and links to professional organizations. There was also an overview of the roles and responsibilities of a nursing informatics project manager throughout the 5 acquisition lifecycle processes, which includes initiating, planning, executing, monitoring, and closing. Finally, essential terms were defined to assist in the completion of the assigned project on time, within budget, and in scope. An implication for positive social change was increased knowledge for nurses to serve as a HIT project manager, which advances the nursing profession with informed nurses to serve in the leadership position among multidisciplinary groups.

Since the 1980s, approximately 10 MWp photovoltaic (PV) power has been installed in off-grid areas in Indonesia for powering lighting, water pumping, communications, health clinics, etc. However, PV energy systems (PVES) have yet to prove their sustainability and remain inaccessible to many remote Indonesian communities. The objective of this interdisciplinary thesis is to draw on social and engineering perspectives to address sustainability issues related to off-grid PVES delivery in Indonesia. By employing the Brundtland definition of sustainability, off-grid PVES delivery is analysed with respect to its institutional, financial, technical, social and ecological sustainability. In parallel, the thesis also investigates PVES Accessibility, Availability and Acceptability (3A), referring to the three energy goals proposed by the World Energy Council. The concepts of Sustainable Development, Social Capital, and Diffusion of Innovation are employed to examine the potential for off-grid PVES to contribute to improving the sustainability of remote Indonesian communities. The I3A (Implementation, 3A) Sustainable PVES Delivery framework is proposed to investigate PVES sustainability and the extent to which local communities can continue to socially innovate to meet their evolving needs beyond initial project completion. Sound project management (PM) is essential as off-grid PVES projects can only access limited resources (time, funds, and scope) and project failure can undermine a community???s capacity to innovate. The research methodologies include literature research, qualitative field research in villages where PVES has been installed and interviews with a wide range of PVES stakeholders in Indonesia. The I3A framework is tested against three off-grid PVES case studies from Lampung, West Java and NTT Provinces and is also proposed as a design tool. A key conclusion is that, to be sustainable and equitable, off-grid PVES projects should be implemented in an institutional framework that provides sound project management and addresses PVES accessibility (financial, institutional and technological), availability (technical quality and continuity) and acceptability (social and ecological). The overall objectives are to acknowledge the interests of all stakeholders, maximise equity, assure PVES continuity, and institutionalize PVES by utilizing and enhancing preexisting community resources to leave the community with the capacity to socially innovate. While this might be regarded as idealistic, enhanced local autonomy and capability will be essential in the context of the energy security and climate change challenges that humanity now faces.

This research examines pluralist practice, the combination of methodologies based in different paradigms. Two paradigms are discussed throughout this research, referred to as the hard and soft paradigms. The hard paradigm is commonly associated with positivism and quantitative data, while the soft paradigm is commonly associated with interpretivism and qualitative data. These two paradigms present considerably different perspectives on the world, and methodologies based on these paradigms tend to place different emphases on research and practice. The combination of methodologies from different paradigms presents a number of problems for practice. These include the problem of paradigmatic incommensurability and issues related to practitioner skill diversity, and difficulties in reconciling the different perspectives that are brought to a situation by different methodologies. This research explores pluralist practice through the combination of Project Management and Soft Systems Methodology, methodologies which are based on the hard and soft paradigms respectively. The combination of these methodologies is informed by aspects of the Critical Systems Thinking literature, and based on the Embedding model for pluralism. The combination of these methodologies is explored in the context of an IS / IT strategy development project, in the NSW public sector. This project was set within an environment typified by changing stakeholder relationships, abstractly defined and changing goals, and a variety of external influences which altered throughout the course of the project. A combination of Project Management and Soft Systems Methodology, based on the Embedding model for pluralism, was used in the management of this project, and resulted in a project which is demonstrated to have provided lasting benefit to the organisation. This is participative, practice based research, and Action Research has been used as the research methodology for this thesis. Action Research has been chosen as a way of linking theory and practice, allowing for the simultaneous development of theory and practice, through cycles of active reflection. The interpretation of research findings has been informed by hermeneutic philosophies. Learning outcomes resulting from this research predominantly relate to the combination of Project Management and Soft Systems Methodology, based on the Embedding model. Findings relate to how the problem of paradigmatic incommensurability affects pluralist practice, issues related to the use of tools and techniques governed by paradigms other than that for which they were designed, and specific adaptations that were made in suiting Project Management and Soft Systems Methodology to the needs of the project environment.

University of Technology, Sydney / Project management is a growing profession which transcends industry and national barriers. A high level of communication competence is required for the successful functioning of the often multi-disciplinary and multicultural project teams involved in project delivery to achieve the desired project objectives. Project managers, as the key channels of communication in the project environment, are faced with international and domestic imperatives to be competent in intercultural communication for successful operation in the multicultural project environment. However, the preparedness of Australian project managers for effective communication during project delivery in multicultural environments has not been investigated. This thesis investigates Australian project managers' intercultural communication competence (knowledge, skill and attitude) and their training requirements in this area from the view point of Registered Project Managers (RegPMs) with the Australian Institute of Project Management (AIPM). The study examines the cultural factors influencing intercultural communication and explores how communication can be made effective in the multicultural project environment. The study is set within the context of project management competence which has been an area of significance since the mid 1990s. Based on a survey, preceded by focus group discussions and personal interviews, the study concludes that a slight majority of Australian project managers are 'not competent' in intercultural communication (54.1 %), largely due to skill deficiency. However, project managers with long project management experience, experience with multicultural projects or formal project management qualifications are more likely to be competent in intercultural project communication than those without such profiles. Project managers consider training in intercultural communication, delivered in a practical and interactive manner, as a priority especially in the areas of interpersonal skills, cultural awareness and communication skills. Participants also confirmed host national, local industry and organisational cultures as the three key sources of cultural influence on communication in the project environment. Finally, while different perspectives is a key challenge to communication in the multicultural project environment, intercultural communication can be made effective when project managers i) demonstrate a number of attributes, in particular patience and active listening; ii) make use of various strategies to manage communication barriers during multicultural project delivery, including team agreed communication standards, training/workshop, and use of diagrams/pictures; and iii) opt for face to face mode of communication in preference to other modes. The study recommends a stronger focus on intercultural communication in project manager education, training and competency assessment in the accreditation process.

The rail way sector has been losing market, required increased subsidies and failed to generate anticipated rate of return. Therefore there has been a strong interest to measure the performance of railway operators in terms of punctuality. It is evident that In Norway punctuality shows considerable variation; most of the line being in non-optimal condition, speed is frequently reduced. Such speed reductions are often highlighted as major causes of delays. This master thesis studied the actual delays occurring on the parts of the line between Oslo and Trondheim which have speed restrictions. In doing actual time, travel times and speed restriction magnitudes data have been collected along the line. Combining both qualitative and quantitative approach to research the master thesis have mapped and analyzed speed restriction zones along the line. Using restriction mapping, statistical tools and curve fittings, the analysis revealed that as long as there is sufficient data, uniformity and regular fluctuation of the time magnitudes data there is an increasing effect caused and trend displayed on the actual time taken in the presence of the speed restrictions. Furthermore the research has looked in to the magnitude based relationship between the lost time due to restrictions and associated deviations in travel time. These resulted in a strong correlation between deviation of travel time and magnitude of lost time due to restrictions.

SAP in an ERP system which is a digital system used in Aker Subsea to store, organize and manage information related to the company that all employees in the different functions use daily. Primavera is the time planning tool in Aker Subsea. Today information is copied manually from SAP over to Primavera by the planners to analyze and create schedules. There exists an application that copies information between SAP and Primavera called Inspire. Aker Subsea is interested in implementing this so that the planners will have more time to analyze and forecast potential pitfalls of the future. As the planning department in Aker Subsea has spent several years on building up their procedures, structure and manpower the time has come to implement the integration software. As ERP systems are modular then the integration can be seen as installing a new time planning module to the ERP system and for this there is done a lot of research into. There is a clear need for four specific things in an integration like this to be successful: “Top Management Support”, “ERP Teamwork and Composition”, “Project Management” and “Change Management Culture and Program”. BIM is a similar system to ERP, but with different functions. Research on this can be valuable to ERP implementations. As more research is done to BIM it becomes clear that interoperability between software is needed on many levels and between several disciplines. As time and progress is registered in the ERP system it is highly relevant to have that information in the planning tool.

This study is carried out to examine two public construction projects delivered by traditional approach (Design/Bid/Build) with five issues of (1) formal and informal relationships between key parties involved in detailed design and construction phases; (2) project organization for construction; (3) decision-making process for resolving requests for changes (RFCs) of construction contractors; (4) communication process for reviewing requests for information (RFIs) and submittals of construction contractors; and (5) influences of relationships between key parties on processes of time, cost and quality control during a construction phase. This research includes two main purposes. One of them is to recognize similarities and differences in the five above issues to understand and to learn from this. The other one is to suggest several recommendations to enhance performance of public construction projects that are delivered by traditional method (Design/Bid/Build). To answer the research questions, there are two project-cases formed in the study as foundations for comparison and analysis. One of them is River Nid bridge construction project in Norway and the other one is U Minh bridge construction project in Viet Nam. Furthermore, these two cases were established by using project materials and interviewing with key individuals involved in the projects. Throughout comparison and analysis between the theory and both the Vietnamese and Norwegian cases, and between these two project-cases, this study concluded: In the detailed design phase, that the management of the detailed design and review of the detailed design are conducted by two separate individuals in both the Vietnamese and Norwegian cases makes the degree of the functional relationships in both these two cases more complex than in the theoretical case. However, this can bring significant benefits for the project performance because there are potential chances of achieving a more feasible detailed design. In the construction phase, hiring the supervision consultants (SC) - the third party for supervising the contractors’ construction activities makes the functional relationships in both the Vietnamese and Norwegian cases more complex than in the theoretical case. This can bring both advantages and disadvantages for the project performance. There need to have (1) a suitable control system much focusing on the activities of both the third party and the construction contractors, and (2) a system for resolving conflicts to limit these disadvantages to increase the project performance. The trust and personal relationships can be established before or after the beginning of the project, and bring many benefits for the project performance. However, the trust relationships can have negative influences on the project performance since they cause subjectivity. Good personal relationships, and clear and sufficient contract terms can prevent the negative influences of the personal relations on the project performance. The level of the authority delegation for decision-making for resolving the requests for changes (RFCs) of the construction contractors in both the Norwegian and theoretical cases is deeper than in the Vietnamese case; and the time of the information exchange between the design consultants (DC) and the construction contractors in both the Norwegian and theoretical cases is less than in the Vietnamese case. This may lead a consequence that the project performance in both the Norwegian and theoretical cases are more effective than in the Vietnamese case. The positive attitude of the key parties is a decisive factor to achieve the positive influences of the functional relationships on the processes of the time, cost and quality control during the construction phase. The functional relations’ negative influences made by significant conflicts are more likely to perform in the processes of the cost and quality control than in the process of the time control. The high level of certain trust and good personal relationships can help to prevent the negative influences of the functional relationships. The trust relationships may help to increase the project performance since they result in conflict reduction in the processes of the time, cost and quality control during the construction phase. However, there need the high degree of certain trust relationships to achieve the actual positive relations of the trust relations on the processes of the cost and quality control. This is because these two processes are sensitive, so there need the high degree of certain trust relations to create chances for the less control of the construction activities of the construction contractors. The personal relationships can make the increase of the project performance due to better communication. This benefit is achieved mainly throughout what the personal relationships positively affect the processes of the time and cost control during the construction phase. Meanwhile, the impacts of the personal relationships on the process of the quality control are limited. Throughout the comparison and analysis, especially recognizing interesting points in both the Vietnamese and Norwegian cases, there are nine recommendations suggested to increase the performance of the public construction projects that are delivered by traditional approach (Design/Bid/Build). These recommendations address project owners, project managers and construction managers who are responsible for organizing and managing these public construction projects.

The thesis research innovation projects in temporary teams. The differences between stationary organization and temporary project teams lead the distinctions of their performances. Especially in innovation projects, many problems exist and are difficult to manage. Many innovation projects are operated by temporary teams; very few of them are successfully completed on time with good quality and cost as planned. The purpose with this study is to find out how innovation projects in temporary teams can be successfully managed.The research approach used is case study of one innovation project in a temporary team and additional data collection has been done with a survey. The case study describes an innovation project in a temporary team in China and the survey covers 43 persons with experience of innovation projects in temporary teams. An innovation process model by Bessant and Tidd (2007) is used as reference model but is found not suitable for temporary teams because of its specific mission with short life cycle and weak relations and uncertainty. With the combination of theoretical and practical knowledge, and to fulfil the requirements of temporary project teams, some changes are made on the original innovation process model. A new model named TT (Temporary Team) Innovation Process Model is proposed to support the innovation project management and operation process of temporary teams. Hopefully this model could be supportive for temporary teams who work with innovation projects.

Almost all projects have some degree of virtuality in their structure and work processes. While there is an abundance of literature about ICT related challenges and solutions, much less is written about corresponding organizational and management issues. This master thesis will investigate management issues concerning identifying the need for virtualisation, preparing the organization for introduction of such solutions and implementing them. This work includes issues like;- Using maturity models as a point of departure to investigate the challenges facing organizations wanting to implement a more virtualized type of project-oriented work- Describing preparation and implementation process with a special emphasis on managerial challenges.- Developing a decision support tool that can be used by companies wanting to implement a more virtualized form of project work. The thesis includes both a theoretical and an empirical approach to the questions above. The empirical part will be case-based based on a limited number of interviews and investigations.

Improved logistical performance is one of the tools to mitigate greenhouse gases emissions from freight transport. The production company and transportation company should find the practice to decrease the emissions from their activity in distributions of goods. In this thesis, the sustainable logistics in practice in focal company (Ekornes) is studied. The potential improvement in relation to sustainable transportation principle is explained. Through qualitative method research, the theory related to the sustainable logistic and the findings on logistic practice in Ekornes is discussed. It is found that Ekornes is lack of environmental factors in the contract with third party logistic (3PL) providers. Ekornes indicates the positive response to the pressure to implement the environmental concept on their operational strategy.Key Words: sustainable freight transport, qualititative method research, environmental concept on operational strategy.