Repetitive project failures or underperformance and ever increasing competition have given impetus for the need to drastically improve project performance within professional services organisations. This realisation has prompted actions to drive restitution efforts to enhance successful delivery and overall project management throughout the organisation. However, the desired outcomes to improve project management processes at an organisational level have not always been forthcoming in light of improvement activities implemented through various changes in operating procedures. The purpose of study is to investigate and identify, from an intra-organisational perspective, the factors required to bring about enhanced implementation and continuous improvements in project management processes; and to determine how they must be aligned to a successful strategy implementation for attainment of higher states of organisational project management maturity. The study focuses on project intensive organisations, mainly implementing information communication technology (ICT), business services and financial related projects. Through the use of a literature review, augmented by a quantitative survey, the perceived impacts and values of the determined factors on project management maturity were gathered. The research study shows that companies wanting to improve project management maturity must steer away from focussing only on certain processes, but must take a holistic view, encompassing a variety of internal factors, ranging from components of organisational learning, to change management and strategy implementation. The identified factors will provide impetus for organizations to create and leverage the drivers, fostering a climate for continuous project performance improvements and ultimately giving them the ability for moving to higher levels of maturity. / Graduate School for Business Leadership / (M.B.A.)

Repetitive project failures or underperformance and ever increasing competition have given impetus for the need to drastically improve project performance within professional services organisations. This realisation has prompted actions to drive restitution efforts to enhance successful delivery and overall project management throughout the organisation. However, the desired outcomes to improve project management processes at an organisational level have not always been forthcoming in light of improvement activities implemented through various changes in operating procedures. The purpose of study is to investigate and identify, from an intra-organisational perspective, the factors required to bring about enhanced implementation and continuous improvements in project management processes; and to determine how they must be aligned to a successful strategy implementation for attainment of higher states of organisational project management maturity. The study focuses on project intensive organisations, mainly implementing information communication technology (ICT), business services and financial related projects. Through the use of a literature review, augmented by a quantitative survey, the perceived impacts and values of the determined factors on project management maturity were gathered. The research study shows that companies wanting to improve project management maturity must steer away from focussing only on certain processes, but must take a holistic view, encompassing a variety of internal factors, ranging from components of organisational learning, to change management and strategy implementation. The identified factors will provide impetus for organizations to create and leverage the drivers, fostering a climate for continuous project performance improvements and ultimately giving them the ability for moving to higher levels of maturity. / Graduate School for Business Leadership / (M.B.A.)

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O acirramento contínuo da concorrência nos mercados exige a adoção pela indústria de padrões compatíveis para seus processos de negócios. Esse estudo avalia o projeto do produto, principal elo no processo de desenvolvimento de produtos e fator central para a competitividade e inovação das empresas. A pesquisa foca a maturidade no projeto do produto nas pequenas e médias indústrias brasileiras do setor metal-mecânico. Identificam-se as principais atividades para o diagnóstico da maturidade, com prioridade para as atividades tecnológicas, mas incluindo as atividades de gestão quando essenciais para a avaliação. A pesquisa de campo usa recursos computacionais e coleta dados entre dezenove empresas. Os resultados encontrados são discutidos e um tratamento estatístico adequado permite a criação de uma sistemática para a avaliação da maturidade do projeto do produto. Oferece-se uma discussão das correlações entre as avaliações da maturidade em projeto do produto e do desempenho dos produtos e empresas. As principais conclusões do estudo começam com a avaliação da maturidade e se desdobram na análise das atividades que demandam melhorias para se elevar o estágio do projeto do produto nas empresas. A sistemática proposta é replicável em outros contextos dentro de limites discutidos de aplicabilidade. São oferecidas sugestões para novos estudos acadêmicos ou aplicações práticas empresariais. / The ongoing intensification of competition in the industry requires the adoption of compatible standards for business processes. This study evaluates the product design, the main link in the process of product development and key factor for competitiveness and innovation. The research project focuses on the product design maturity in small and medium industries of the Brazilian metal-mechanic sector. It identifies the main activities for the diagnosis of maturity, with priority given to technological activities, but including management activities when essential for the evaluation. The field research uses computational resources and data collected between nineteen companies. The results discussed and an appropriate statistical treatment allows the creation of a system for assessing the product design maturity. It provides a discussion on the correlations between maturity evaluation of product design and performance of products and companies. The main conclusion of the study begins with the maturity assessment and unfolds on the analysis of activities that require improvements to raise the stage of product design in companies. The proposed methodology is replicable in other contexts within the discussed limits of applicability. Suggestions are offered for further academic studies or practical applications business.

O acirramento contínuo da concorrência nos mercados exige a adoção pela indústria de padrões compatíveis para seus processos de negócios. Esse estudo avalia o projeto do produto, principal elo no processo de desenvolvimento de produtos e fator central para a competitividade e inovação das empresas. A pesquisa foca a maturidade no projeto do produto nas pequenas e médias indústrias brasileiras do setor metal-mecânico. Identificam-se as principais atividades para o diagnóstico da maturidade, com prioridade para as atividades tecnológicas, mas incluindo as atividades de gestão quando essenciais para a avaliação. A pesquisa de campo usa recursos computacionais e coleta dados entre dezenove empresas. Os resultados encontrados são discutidos e um tratamento estatístico adequado permite a criação de uma sistemática para a avaliação da maturidade do projeto do produto. Oferece-se uma discussão das correlações entre as avaliações da maturidade em projeto do produto e do desempenho dos produtos e empresas. As principais conclusões do estudo começam com a avaliação da maturidade e se desdobram na análise das atividades que demandam melhorias para se elevar o estágio do projeto do produto nas empresas. A sistemática proposta é replicável em outros contextos dentro de limites discutidos de aplicabilidade. São oferecidas sugestões para novos estudos acadêmicos ou aplicações práticas empresariais. / The ongoing intensification of competition in the industry requires the adoption of compatible standards for business processes. This study evaluates the product design, the main link in the process of product development and key factor for competitiveness and innovation. The research project focuses on the product design maturity in small and medium industries of the Brazilian metal-mechanic sector. It identifies the main activities for the diagnosis of maturity, with priority given to technological activities, but including management activities when essential for the evaluation. The field research uses computational resources and data collected between nineteen companies. The results discussed and an appropriate statistical treatment allows the creation of a system for assessing the product design maturity. It provides a discussion on the correlations between maturity evaluation of product design and performance of products and companies. The main conclusion of the study begins with the maturity assessment and unfolds on the analysis of activities that require improvements to raise the stage of product design in companies. The proposed methodology is replicable in other contexts within the discussed limits of applicability. Suggestions are offered for further academic studies or practical applications business.

Omsättningen från projektverksamhet i Sverige uppgår till ca 1000 miljarder kronor per år. Enligt Svenskt projektindex är den genomsnittliga projektmognaden i Sverige 2,56 på en femgradig skala. Om Sveriges genomsnittliga projektmognad i genomsnitt ökade till 3,5 skulle det motsvara besparingar på mer än 100 miljarder kronor per år. Projektledning bör därför ses som en nyckelkompetens för alla företag och organisationer. Det finns idag stor mängd teoretisk kunskap om projektledning, verktyg och projektmodeller. Lösningen på svårigheterna att leverera projekt som uppfyller sina mål i tid och inom budget är sannolikt inte att skapa ännu mer ny teori utan att ställa sig frågan hur befintlig teori och forskning skall tillämpas i de enskilda fallen för att öka organisationens förmåga att driva framgångsrika projekt. Byggbranschen står inför samma utmaningar som övriga inom området projektledning. Samtidigt brottas byggbranschen med en produktivitetsutveckling som är svagare än för industrin i övrigt mätt i förädlingsvärde per arbetad timme. Problemet för det enskilda företaget är hur de ska förhålla sig till de utmaningar som finns idag med låg produktivitet i projekt och förväntade framtida ökningar i komplexitet och förändringshastighet. Vad kan en organisation, utifrån generella teorier och forskning göra för att öka sin projektmognad? Och även om en organisation vet vad de kan göra behöver de ställa sig frågan; av alla tänkbara saker som kan göras, vad bör organisationen prioritera och i vilken ordning bör organisationen genomföra förbättringar i arbetssätt och metoder för att gradvis öka sin förmåga att genomföra framgångsrika projekt? Utgångspunkten i detta examensarbete är undersökningen av ett enskilt företag och de olika handlingsalternativ som finns för företaget att lösa ovanstående problem, baserat på teoretisk vetenskap och företagets speciella förutsättningar. Slutsatsen är att mätning av projektmognad är en effektiv metod för att identifiera och prioritera förbättringsområden hos ett enskilt företag. Studien visar också att det är viktigt att börja metodiskt med grunderna innan ett företag implementerar en projektmodell med förhoppningen att modellen skall lösa företagers utmaningar. Grunden en projektmodell vilar på är konsekvent och systematisk tillämpning av relevanta arbetssätt och metodiker. Grunden behöver vara på plats innan övriga byggstenar läggs till. Denna rapport handlar om ett specifikt företag men det är rapportförfattarens uppfattning att tillvägagångssättet är generaliserbart och därför kan tillämpas även på andra företag som önskar öka sin projektmognad. / Turnover from project related business in Sweden amounts to approximately 1000 billion Swedish kronor per year. According to the Swedish project index, the average project maturity in Sweden is 2.56 measured at a scale of 1-5. Increasing the average project maturity in Sweden to an average of 3.5 corresponds to savings of more than 100 billion kronor per year. Project management should therefore be seen as a key competence for all companies and organizations. There is a great deal of theoretical knowledge today about project management, tools and project models. The solution to the difficulties in delivering projects that meet their goals is probably not to create even more new theory. The question should be how to apply existing theory and research to increase a specific organization's ability to drive successful projects. The construction industry faces the same challenges as others in the field of project management. At the same time, the construction industry is struggling with a productivity trend that is weaker than for the industry measured in value added per hour worked. Based on the challenges described above, the problem for the individual company is how they will adapt to the challenges today with low productivity in projects and future increase in complexity and increased rate of change. What can an organization do, based on theory and research to increase their project maturity? And given that the organization knows what they can do they then need to ask the question; of all possible things that can be done, what should the organization prioritize and in what order should the organization make improvements in methods and ways of working to gradually increase their ability to carry out successful projects? The starting point for this report project is the investigation of a specific company and the various options available for solving the above problems, based on project management theory, science and the specific conditions that characterize the organization. The conclusion is that measuring project maturity is an effective method for identifying and prioritizing improvement areas of a company. The study also shows that it is important to start in a structured way with applying the basics before a company implements a project model, hoping that the model will solve business challenges. The foundation on which the project model stands is the consistent and systematic application of the relevant working methods and methodologies. The foundation needs be in place before laying the other building blocks in place. Although this report analyzes what a specific company can do, the authors´s view is that the approach and the conclusions are generic enough to be applicable for other companies that want to increase their project maturity.